Welcome back to another exciting installment of the Meet The SGs series! This time (albeit a little delayed on my part) myself and the rest of Soccer Capitol brought in the boys from Fleur De Noise. As the name suggests they are the drum corps/chant leaders for the Supporters' Section. Zach Ziaja and Austin Adams gave us a little look behind the curtain so to speak, but didn't give too many trade secrets away.
First and foremost I would like to highlight a special event for you City fans out there. This Saturday (Saturday February 18th) Fleur De Noise will be having a family friendly get together at CITYPark, at Market St. and 20th around 2:30 PM until 4:30 PM. The plan is to bring fans together to have a "Chant jam" (Their words not mine), a not so deafening place to learn the chants, learn the songs, and get to know other fans and Fleur De Noise. FDN will be there to lead and help you learn so that any fan from ANY seat in the stadium can help bring the noise to the matches. THIS IS NOT JUST FOR THE SUPPORTERS SECTION! ALL FANS WELCOME! I know it's a little short notice but if you can make it on the 18th, be there and learn the noise.
With the business end out of the way, let's give a little background on FDN. Originally known as Show Up Make Noise, the drum corps has been around just as long as The Louligans have and have supported soccer at all levels in St. Louis and the surrounding areas. With the new MLS team on the horizon they felt they needed a bit of a rebrand and started throwing around names, and became their own independent SG. After many names were floated around, at the last minute in their own Deadline Day Deal, Austin floated his last idea: Fleur De Noise. After a bit of a collective facepalm for missing the play on the Fleur de Lis, a symbol that is ubiquitous here in STL, it was settled.
FDN welcome anyone to join the crew so you don't have to be a pro to get involved however you can. Don't worry, by their own admission they aren't pros at their instruments either. You can inquire on their website and fill out the form by clicking the Join In button. FDN are always looking to add people to either play drums, help capo, and now they want to add a horn section as well! By joining you won't have to make an every game commitment either, the more people the better the coverage since not everyone can make every game.
In addition to being open to all members, Fleur De Noise are also open to feedback. Have a chant idea? Let them know and hear it! Who knows it might be already in the works, it might be another "How did we miss that" moment. They have already taken a couple chants back to the drawing board during the CITY 2 season in MLS Next Pro last year based on some feedback from fellow supporters. The ultimate goal is to have all the fans walk away from a match saying "Wow we sounded great today" and not "Wow the drummers were great". Sure they will lead by example but the goal is to help you, the fan in any given seat (or standing spot) in the stadium to feel like you really helped make The Pit a truly challenging fan environment.
One great way they are doing so is the previously mentioned "Chant Jam” but when it comes to match days, they have some big plans too. For now you can find the FDN crew set up on Louligan Street right outside the Schlafly Taproom for Pre-Match parties along with many other groups. They will help lead the March to the Match and get everyone ready rowdy and loud. Ultimately one day they hope to have members at each satellite party to rally the troops, bring them together to one big March to the Match with everyone converging on Louligan Street.
You can reach out to the Fleur De Noise crew on their website at fleurdenoise.com , also on Twitter and Instagram @fleurdenoise, and lastly on Facebook at Fleur de Noise. If you would like to hear the conversation in full just find the Soccer Capitol Podcast on your favorite podcatcher, and find episode 82: Come on Fleur the Noise. And as always thank you for reading, and bye for now!
(Photo Credits to Will Bramlett through FDN)