British Drummers “Stick It To MS” to Raise Money for Charity!
This past Monday, July 13th, 2009, saw a whopping 582 drummers congregate at the Birmingham National Indoor Arena (UK) to raise awareness and money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The event was organized by Craig Glover, of Drum and Guitar Fest. The previous record for the full drumset ensemble was set in the United States, with 533 drummers.
The event, entitled “Stick It To MS”, was part of the MS Society’s "Get Loud About MS" project to raise awareness during the MS Week (www.msweek.org.uk). MS is the most common debilitating neurological condition in the UK, affecting around 100,000 people in the UK and almost 2.5 million people worldwide, ranging from young adults to the elderly.
Drummers in the UK have raised over £34,000 so far and the figure is expected to rise! On the day, many Vic Firth Artists were involved; among them Jojo Mayer, Karl Brazil, Robin Guy, and Jim Farey. The event was emceed by UK Comedian John Thomson, who took the amassed drummers through such warm-ups as “We Will Rock You” by Queen and helped get everyone present used to the idea of a conductor who had to be followed visually because of the sheer scale of the event.
