Some of America's finest drummers and brass-players marched into Japan this week for Drumline 2011. The tour will hit several prefectures and give locals a taste of the energized spectacle that comes during the half-time show at American football games.
The music was popularized in a 2002 U.S. film titled "Drumline," a misfit-style comedy about a young student who enrolls in his university's drumming band. The tour hopes to take the awe of that style of performance from the field to the stage.
The two-hour performance celebrates the culture of marching bands that originated in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) that are located primarily in the southeastern United States. All the performers are students or recent graduates from the 105 HBCU institutions still in existence.
The band is set to perform hits from legendary African-American performers, including Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and the Supremes.
DRUMline Live 2011 takes place at Tokyo International Forum in Chiyoda-ku through Aug. 13; Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Kobe on Aug. 16-18; Symphony Hills in Katsushika-ku, Tokyo on Aug. 21; Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater in Nagoya on Aug. 22-23; KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater in Yokohama on Aug. 24, 25 & 28, Tochigi Prefectural Sobun Bunka Center in Utsunomiya on Aug. 26; and Beishia Bunka Hall in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, on Aug. 27. For more information, visit www.drumlinelive.jp.
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