SpringfieldNewsSun.com

SPRINGFIELD — Technically, the marching bands of the nation's historically black colleges and universities are similar to those of the Big 10.

But, really, that's like saying Paul McCartney and Bootsy Collins are both bass players.

The instruments are the same, yes.

But the approach?

Both kinds of bands bring in da noise — just one brings in da funk.

"We walk a little bit differently. We talk a little bit differently," said Don P. Roberts, musical director of "Drumline Live," which high-steps into Kuss Auditorium on March 20.

The show, a spinoff of the 2002 movie "Drumline," puts the black marching band tradition on the theatrical stage — effectively creating something that could very well out-stomp "Stomp" and out-blast "Blast."

"It's our history on the stage," said Roberts, who served as executive band consultant for the movie. "You're going to get that experience."

In other words, buckle up.

Ohio State might have the best damn band in the land, and "Hang on Sloopy" is a cool old song, but do they do OutKast?

And if they did, would it make you want to explode out of your seat?

"The biggest difference is the action," Roberts explained. "People like the element of surprise. You don't know what you're going to get. (Black college marching bands) thrive on trying to be the most creative. Who can have the latest movements and the latest flash and dazzle."

Throw in the dancers and, suddenly, halftime gets a whole lot funkier.

The new show, which just started touring in January, is built around the style — and competitive flair — of black college marching bands.

That's what "Drumline" the movie strove to capture, and did so with Roberts' expertise.

At the time, he was director of the band at Southwest DeKalb High School in suburban Atlanta.

A trumpet player and drum major during his days at Florida A&M University, Roberts was leading a citywide band camp when he met music producer Dallas Austin, who informed him of plans to make a movie about black college marching bands.

"I was just like, 'Yeah right,' " Roberts recalled. "Two, three years later, he called."

An audition notice went out for musicians.

But drummers and dancers aside, only 30 people showed up, Roberts said.

Then the producers saw his Southwest DeKalb Marching Panthers.

"That was it," Roberts said.

For the movie, his students became the fictitious Atlanta A&T University marching band.

"We used the band uniforms," Roberts said. "Covered up the logo."

Now music supervisor for DeKalb County Schools, Roberts remains a self-professed "band head."

"I'm still in the trenches," he said. "I'm not a Hollywood guy. I'm a band person."

But he also saw the potential for a live show based on the black marching band tradition — after all, the drum and bugle tradition was having a field day with "Blast."

That show, which played Kuss Auditorium in 2005, won the first Tony Award in 2001 for best special theatrical event.

Nothing against Ravel's "Bolero" — it's just a little hard to dance to.

"We go from Duke Ellington all the way up to Kanye West and Andre 3000," Roberts said.

That reliance on R&B and the Top 40 has made the black college marching bands unique since the 1960s, Roberts said.

For those bands, Sousa is just as much of a standard as Cameo's "Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck."

But practically no two versions of the song are alike.

"In every black college marching band," Roberts said, "90, 95 percent of the charts are arranged within."

That ups the competition even more, as bands battle it out for originality.

At universities across the country, Roberts is noticing that the style is catching on.

Louisiana State University now regularly plays the Cameo tune, he said.

"I know where the influence came from," Roberts said. "I didn't see that before 'Drumline.' "

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or amcginn@coxohio.com.

How to go

What: "Drumline Live"

When: 8 p.m. March 20

Where: Kuss Auditorium

Tickets: $30 to $45; visit springfieldartscouncil.org or call (937) 328-3874.