Drumline LIVE stirs the adrenalin and thrills the soul. Think of a college football stadium packed shoulder to shoulder and the quickening rat-a-tat of the snare drums as the band marches onto the field at halftime. The history of “Drumline LIVE’s” intoxicating percussion rhythms, the eye-popping choreography and the athletic, high-stepping instrumentalists harks back a half-century to Florida A&M University, where show-style marching began. College bands around the country have enlarged their percussion sections and escalated their halftime programs to emulate Broadway shows. The competition is so stiff that the bands draw thousands to watch them outdo each other at the Big Southern Classic, the Bayou Classic and other competitions.

The 2002 film “Drumline” took viewers by storm. The fictional plot about a Southern university was inspired by the marching band at Southwest DeKalb High School near Atlanta. It is no surprise that Don Roberts, director of that band and graduate of Florida A&M, is the executive band consultant of “Drumline LIVE.”