2025 Spirit blasting off for other-worldly “rock concert”

Spirit of Atlanta brass arranger Michael Martin had a very specific, unique vision. As he put it, he’s had this image in his creative mind for quite a while.

“I’ve always been fascinated with some kind of, like, astronaut rock band show,” he said.

Sometimes, for a drum corps show, that’s all it takes. 

On its face, that’s the basis for Spirit of Atlanta’ 2025 production, “Rocket.” It’s a show about space travel, and it’s a show about rock music. Along the way, the Georgia corps intends for — and expects — performers and audience members to be thoroughly entertained. 

“Our goal is always to put something out on the field that we would want to perform,” Martin said. “And by extension, that the audiences will want to see and want to hear.”

 

 

 

 

 

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As Martin and fellow design team members described, “Rocket” will bring audiences along for the ride on a musical trip through outer space. The production opens with dreams of flight — drawing themes from American contemporary composer Eric Whitacre’s “Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine” — before transitioning into the famed “launch sequence” of space travel.

“Rocket” by Def Leppard and “Piper Jump” by Thomas Newman, from the film “WALL-E,” will also serve as the musical foundation of this opening statement. 

“We're dreaming of something beyond our own world or our own home,” Martin said. “And then, we’ll build sort of a rocket launch pad, and then at the end of the countdown, we launch our rocket into space."

Spirit of Atlanta’s characters will then have the chance to revel in the beauty of their surroundings. From there, things turn “psychedelic” as the “rock concert in space” commences, featuring pop-soul group Lawrence’s “What You Want” and French DJ/singer/songwriter Martin Solveig’s “Intoxicated.”
 
"We're in this very strange new place, we're seeing other planets, we're becoming transformed, and we end up becoming the rock astronauts," Martin said.

“It’ll have ‘bring-down-the-house’ kind of vibes,” he added. “Like when you're in the middle of a rock concert, when you're just totally immersed in it, and you've become part of this experience with lights and sounds."

Finally, Spirit makes its return to Earth, bringing about a rendition of Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” based on covers by Kate Bush and Peter Bence, as well as renewed references to “Rocket” by Def Leppard, and even quotes of Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra” — commonly known by its use in the film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

“We land the rocket back home and, hopefully, bring the house down with the end of our rock show,” Martin said. “We’ll take our props that we'll have used to help symbolize our journey through space and our weightlessness, and we bring it all back together and create this entirely different picture that’s familiar but transformed."

According to visual designer Bradley Klemmensen, the “duality” of the corps’ storyline will be present in its visual presentation, as well as a set of props and stages that will serve in a variety of versatile roles.

In that vein, Klemmensen also noted an effort by Spirit to make visual focal points obvious; as he described, the Georgia corps’ designers want audiences to know exactly where to look in any given moment. 

“The main idea is always the main idea, and the main stage,” he said. “We’re really trying to make it easy to follow. You don’t go to a rock concert to try and guess what’s happening. You want to just be like, ‘Okay, now they're playing the hits.’”

“The versatility of the props, being able to create different stages,” he said, “it’ll really make sure it’s easy for people to follow.”

 

That objective of accessibility is not only intended for audiences, Klemmensen added. It’s also intended for the corps’ performers.

“We wanted this to be a show that immediately when they hear about it, they find out about it, and boom there’s an immediate connection to it,” he said. “There’s an obvious excitement about it.”

According to program coordinator Gilles Oullette, though, while the original concept may have come from Martin’s imagination, “Rocket” has been a productive and collectively unified creative effort. 

“It’s one idea that somebody brought to the table, but it’s a collective group of people who are developing this program,” he said. “It went in different directions because we had all this input, but now it’s starting to funnel through. It has a really clear direction, and that’s pretty exciting.”

And from what Klemmensen and the team can tell, the excitement among Spirit of Atlanta’s designers is more than shared by the corps’ growing membership.

“The kids absolutely loved it when they got to see it,” Klemmensen said. “Obviously, we took them through the entire soundtrack, but the response immediately from the kids was really positive.”

“The way their faces lit up,” he added, “It was like, ‘Yeah, we took this in the right direction.’”

View Spirit of Atlanta's 2025 DCI Tour Schedule