Roar of Niagara Muted by Drum Corps

By Joyce Kryszak

Niagara Falls, NY –

The roar of Niagara Falls was louder than usual Tuesday - and it kept better tempo. The Capital Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps performed against the backdrop of the mighty Niagara. WBFO's Joyce Kryszak has more on which was louder.

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The awesome power of Niagara Falls had a little competition Tuesday. The 80-piece drum corps did its best to drown out the Falls. And the corps certainly created quite a thunder.

The crowd gathered at Terrapin point to hear the mock competition with the Falls. Brad Sanders was visiting from California. He said the corps was loud, but not quite loud enough to drown out the falls.

It was pretty hard to hear any water falling behind the corps loudest efforts - even the thundering Niagara. But the corps' percussion leader said being loud really is not the point.

Tim Overturf said it is about getting in as much practice time as possible. Overturf said having the Falls as a backdrop for some of Tuesday's practice was quite a treat.

Buried in the midst of that cacophony is Buffalo native Matthew Uhteg. The 19 year-old plays in the bass line. He has only been with the competitive corps for a year. But Uhteg said it has been a dream of his since seventh grade. He said it was the loudness of drumming that hooked him.

And he does mean all summer. The showcase at the falls was actually just a snippet of the practicing the Ohio-based corps has to do every day. Ten hours of practice, every day for two months straight in the summer.

They travel from competition to competition in four buses, sleeping on gym floors at night and rising at dawn for another full day of military style marching and drumming to stay in competitive form. Uhteg said carrying around a 35 pound drum and banging on it for ten hours a day will do that.

The corps performance was a prelude to the upcoming "Drums Along the Waterfront." That competition on August 2 promises to be even louder. 20 world class drum corps will march into Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park competing for the title of the best - if not the loudest.