Throughout the year, the UCLA Marching Band performs at sporting events, augmenting teams’ athletic performances with upbeat music and cheers.
But last week, the drumline itself was the center of attention, with the group depicted on posters that were spread throughout the city of Nagoya, Japan.
The occasion was the 28th annual Ekitopia festival parade, a huge celebration planned by the city’s train station and neighboring department stores, and one of the featured performances was a group of 14 UCLA drumline members.
“The parade was unlike anything I ever experienced before,” said Brian Bauman, a fourth-year classics student and cymbals player. “It was more exhilarating than a football game ““ everyone is just watching you. At the end, we felt like rock stars.”
In the past, entertainment options for the parade have included circus acts and aerial performances.
This year, event producers wanted to include a drumline, much like the ensemble featured in the film “Drumline.”
Based on Nagoya’s sister-city relationship with Los Angeles, organizers wanted a representative from the metropolis, said Gordon Henderson, director of the UCLA Marching Band.
Because one of the coordinators had worked with UCLA in 1988, when the band performed in Tokyo for the anniversary of the bullet train, he decided to give the university a call.
While the invitation only provided for seven drummers, Henderson negotiated with the producer to include seven more, because he said it would have been difficult to select and work with such a small number.
As a result, additional members were added to the list with assistance from band fundraisers and the Herb Alpert School of Music.
After sending an application to all 28 drumline members, Henderson was able to take almost every interested player, creating a diverse performance group.
Because only one of the participants had been to Japan before, the experience was new for almost every player.
Immediately upon arrival, students noticed the multilayered appearance of Nagoya, as half of the city is located above ground, and the rest is below street level.
Even with the novelty of this metropolitan construction, some students were not as surprised as they expected themselves to be.
Ryan Barnoya, a second-year physics student, noted that Nagoya was similar to Los Angeles, while the underground subway system was reminiscent of New York.
Eric Kunihiro, a fourth-year political science student, saw Nagoya as a realistic representation of a typical Japanese city, because it has many tall buildings but does not seem crowded.
Shortly after the group’s arrival, the band members played in parades on two separate days, performing a four-minute show focused solely on drumming, without a melody.
The drumline stopped and performed four different times along the route, a design that allowed for more audience enthusiasm.
“I did not expect people to be that excited for us to be there,” said Jasmin Harounian, a second-year neuroscience student. “It was like nothing I ever experienced.”
Harounian added that the drumline members high-fived parade-watchers and shook hands with people along the route.
This interaction with the audience was a notable feature for many of the band members.
“When (we’re) on the field at the Rose Bowl, it’s more about the full show experience,” Kunihiro said. “Whereas in Nagoya, it was right up close … a much smaller group. You could really tell they were watching.”
Barnoya echoed this sentiment, saying that at the football games, fans cheer because the band represents UCLA.
But in Japan, the crowd cheered because it was excited to see the drumline itself.
Along with the drumline, several Japanese high school bands also performed at the parade, as well as a taiko drum group and Eric Miyashiro, a famous trumpet soloist in Japan.
Outside of their performances, the members experienced the culture of Japan through nightly dinners at local restaurants, outings to stores and a trip to Kyoto.
Toward the end of the week, Henderson said he spoke with the producer about the possibility of a return trip in the future, adding that they will hopefully keep a connection.
Even with the trip’s short duration, the experience made an impact on several members, such as Bauman.
“I always knew Japan was oriented toward respect and courtesy, and that has been reinforced,” he said, adding that the people were friendly and helpful. “It was the best week of my life.”