FIVE-STAR DRUM SHOP I EVENT
Drumming Across North America

Drums will thunder across North America on Nov. 2, as 10 Five-Star Drum Shop retailers plan to launch The Big Beat. This event aims to bring together the largest gathering of drummers ever assembled, while raising money for different causes.

Each participating location will try to break the Guinness World Record for the most drummers playing the same beat at one time — previously set by Donn Bennett Drum Studio in Bellevue, Wash., with 533 drummers. Participants will also try to set a record for drummers in all cities playing simultaneously. Patterned after similar events that have been held by Five-Star members, The Big Beat is the first attempt to coordinate efforts on a large scale, with the aim of expanding each year.

“What started out as a lark has grown into the single most dynamic demonstration of the power of drums and drummers in our community, making this event the focal point of the Northwest drumming world,” Bennett said.

Donna Fisher, president of The Percussion Center in Houston, produced a Big Beat event for the first time in 2007. “The energy of having all those drummers gathered in one place playing simultaneously is something that’s hard to describe,” she said. “What could be better than having fun and making a difference at the same time?”

Top Big Beat pledge-raisers in each city will be awarded prizes donated by the biggest names in the drum industry, and there will be a raffle at all locations, with the national winner getting an authentic Ringo Starr autograph on a replica Beatles-logo bass drumhead.
Big Beat events will benefit the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and different local charities.