Eddie

Today is the 34th installment of the Kansai Regional Marching Band Contest at the Maishima Arena in Osaka, Japan. 8 groups from around western Japan are competing for two spots in the All Japan Nationals this winter.Last year, The Gryphons and The Blue Angels of Soka Wakayama filled the slots, overtaking Drum Corps Japan's Divion II champion Jokers and underdog favorite Legend of Angels. While the Gryphons are a sure favorite again this year, the duel between The Blue Angels and Jokers is expected to be nothing short of hair-raising, up-on-your-toes excitement. But that is not to say Legend of Angels will give either group a run for their money, who have been stomping their competitive feet, looking for that moment of triumph for the past few years. https://www.dropbox.com/s/f95t8gevh8vg982/2012-11-03%2010.06.14.jpg

Any kind of catering service is a fun treat for the kids (and a night off for the cooks)!

I guess also, copyright issues weren't as much of an issue 30 years ago as they are today, so the range of music genre was a lot greater then from a financial standpoint than now.

The number can still be seen in the URL of your profile page

There is a lot of park space quite far from residential areas where warming up could have taken place. But one of Sonic's members was telling me that due to the large number of foot traffic in the area (joggers), it was advised not to do any playing outside the stadium. My beef with Akinomoto was that it was too echoey. Though the setup was the same at Nissan Stadium (using a far side of the stadium), the stadium's structure has a more open feel... more room for sound to travel. What really sucked though was none of the food stands were open.

Oh, and Nissan Stadium in Yokohama is far superior to Akinomoto... much better sound quality... but still cannot warmup outside the stadium

I wasn't in the stand the entire time (filling in a staff slot for the Sonic Lancers), and saw shows either from off to the side or on the field, so never had the chance to take nots or absorb what the shows had to offer. Inspires I saw from the stands. It was a really interesting show to watch, especially with all the images of death surrounding the theme (BD 95, anyone?). The music book was very familiar, using music from the musical "Carmen." The word I had been given about the Yokohama Scouts was that they had a squeaky clean show this year. The music was snippets from popular rhapsodies (i.e. Rhapsody in Blue, Hungarian Rhapsody #2). I got to see the Jokers during their encore performance only, but did a lot of work on their visual between DCJ and Kansai regionals, most noticeable was the chase scene between a color guard member (the one being morphed into a clown) and the cymbal line. Got to see some familiar characters from the Joker's last 3 years as they told the story of how one becomes a clown. This group out-played and out-marched every group in the Kansai Regional, and by far one of the cleanest corps regarding technique anywhere in the world. Saw Imperial Sound and Pride of Soka (aka Royal Kilties) from the field (off to the side), but don't remember much from them. Sonic Lancers however, was very impressive. Using a casino show concept and incorporating music from 007. They outscored Legend of Angels, which came as shocked given LA came off a very strong finish at the Kansai Regionals. The corps is only 30 people strong, but their incorporation of sets and props really helped make the corps look and act bigger. This is about all I can recall... one does pay a price for not paying for a ticket

They're orange for sure, and still hanging in the band room, too.

I was shocked beyond belief to see Sonic on top of Legend. What a show they had this year!!! Was thinking Pride of Soka (aka Royal Kilties) would have placed higher. Inspire's show was just fun to watch

Bullet train this time going both to and from. Nissan Stadium is only a few minutes walk from Shin-Yokohama Station. Not a bad site for the event

Will write something later. I want to verify scores first as I couldn't hear them all correctly. To be short: Yokohama Scouts win their 4th Division I title. Jokers win their 3rd Division II title

During a concert I was introduced as being from Chino. When I gave the correction of Riverside as my hometown, the MC replied, "It's all cows to me."

here here!!