Crowded in 13 foot long Mason jar, the Warren Central indoor drum line plays the role of fireflies coming out to play at night as they enter the field of competition.

Each member of the line carries an LED light as they dance their way across the floor before picking up their drums and beginning to play.

Warren Central indoor drum line’s show for the 2018season  is entitled “Glow” and is meant to convey the feeling of the time of the day when the sun has set and the fireflies are out.

Indoor drum line leaves behind the wind and brass sections of the band leaving only the percussion section to perform. The show includes the drum line itself as well as an auxiliary section with pianos, guitars and mallet instruments such as the marimba. 

The show includes more pageantry than a typical marching band show as the line works to convey their performance to the judges and audience. 

“In our setting, we are not masked by a band hat,” Warren Central drum line instructor Nathan Ball said. “We literally are like 15 feet from our first audience member. When we are performing, the kids have to learn how to portray different things, give off different emotions. It is like acting, drumming and marching at the same time.”

Saturday at Warren Central, 11 indoor drum lines competed in a Mississippi Indoor Association show including Warren Central.

There are four judges for the competition. One looks at the music and how well the ensemble plays. The music effects judge looks at how the music works to bring the idea of the show to life. The other two judges look at the visuals including the actual marching of the group and the visual effects, which are how the visuals work to bring the idea of the show to life.

In their group, Warren Central finished third with 73.55 points. Brandon finished in second with 76.6 points. Pearl finished in first with 78.05 points.

“I feel really good about it,” Ball said of his line’s performance. “It was better than we were expecting. The kids really stepped up. The first judge I listened to seemed to like us pretty well. So far, good comments and critique.

“I was just in the moment and super proud of the kids. I was not expecting what I saw today. They stepped up and I am proud of them for that.”

There are three movements in Warren Central’s show and Saturday they performed the first two. They are still working to add the third movement, which is Fireflies by Owl City. The first two movements are Head rush by Jay Bocook and Firefly light by Philip Wesley.

“It was pretty good,” senior snare drummer Gabriel Bowman said of Saturday’s performance. “I enjoyed it. I think the group felt a little bit more comfortable because it was at home.”

The ensemble has been working since November and has their sights set on indoor world championships in Dayton, Ohio in April. Ball said he feels his team will be competitive this year after coming up just short of making the semifinals last year.