Drummers from all over hammer away at Woodstick event

The intense thunderous rumble that blasted through the Northwest at 2:45 p.m. and lasted six minutes last Sunday was not another rainstorm. It was a sea of more than 3,000 drummers banging their drum sets in sync, attempting to set a world record — and create a new one for the first time in history.

November 3, 2008 6:31 pm
Hundreds of drummers hammer away on their kits at Woodstick.
Hundreds of drummers hammer away on their kits at Woodstick.

The intense thunderous rumble that blasted through the Northwest at 2:45 p.m. and lasted six minutes last Sunday was not another rainstorm.

It was a sea of more than 3,000 drummers banging their drum sets in sync, attempting to set a world record — and create a new one for the first time in history.

Hundreds of drummers from across the Northwest — including some from the Northshore area — gathered at the Juanita High Fieldhouse in Kirkland Nov. 2 for the Sixth Annual Woodstick/Big Beat drumming and fund-raising event.

Northwest drummers currently hold the Guinness World Record of 533 drummers playing drum sets simultaneously, set at Qwest Field in 2005. Last Sunday, drummers at the Kirkland event topped the Qwest Field record.

An untried record was also set during the event.

Northshore drummers combined with more than 3,000 drummers at other Big Beat events in eight other cities across the United States and Canada and created a new world record for drummers playing simultaneously via live Internet connection.

To keep the drummers in sync, Husky Marching Band Director Brad McDavid of Bothell led the thousands of drummers via live Webcam.

“One and two and one, two, ready and …,” McDavid instructed before the synchronized drumming broke out. Novice and veteran drummers pounded alongside celebrity drummers, including Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse, B.B. King’s Tony Coleman and Michael Derosier, the original drummer for Heart.

Four-year-old Alexander Halua and parents, Edward and Zarlene of Auburn, heard about the event on Seattle’s classic rock radio station, KZOK, when they were listening to “Breakfast with the Beatles.”

Zarlene enlisted the help of 30 family members, who each donated money for the platinum donor pack so that her son, Alexander, could beat his drum set in the front row during the event and meet the celebrities back stage.

“We wanted him to feel like a rock star for the day,” Zarlene added.

The Woodstick event began in 2003 by Chris Kimball of Tacoma as a Rotary fund-raiser. Kimball partnered with Donn Bennett Drum Studios in Bellevue and together they turned the event into the largest and longest running event of its kind. To date, the event has raised nearly $70,000 for charity.

Fund-raising totals for the Nov. 2 event had not been released as of the Reporter’s deadline. All proceeds from the event will be used to support under-funded school music programs and to promote hearing safety through donations to Rotary Music 4 Life (www.rotarymusic4life.org), Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (www.mhopus.org) and Rotarians for Hearing Regeneration (www.hearingregeneration.org).

“I guess the idea of several hundred drummers banging on drum sets to promote hearing safety seems like a contradiction,” Bennett said, adding that the event was an opportunity to show how easy it is to protect your ears and still enjoy music.