Three-Gig Days

Three-gig days are FUN and TIRING!! Last Saturday, we performed twice at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Cherry Blossom Family Celebration and later that night at the Southwest Waterfront Fireworks Festival. We love playing for enthusiastic audiences and were thankful that the temperature warmed up a bit. Here we are outside of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in the ending pose of a Nen Daiko classic, Yamabiko!

About an hour later, we played in the museum's courtyard, which is a beautiful space. There were lots of kids to interact with -- what a great audience! Thanks to Nicole for taking these great photos of us!

After a yummy lunch break, we headed over to the Southwest Waterfront for Fireworks fun!! This year, we performed on a floating stage and didn't lose any bachi, taiko, or Nennies, although the barge was rocking a bit for some of the songs! The picture on the left shows the floating lanterns and koi boats that were between us and the audience. The picture on the right was the view of the stage with the fireworks behind us. 

- Photos courtesy of Gangplank Marina

Hopefully the sakura will be in full bloom this week as we approach the end of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. We hope to see you at Sakura Matsuri (street festival) on Saturday, April 11. We will be performing on the Sakura Stage at 11 am and doing a special collaboration with the Yoshino Bien School of Calligraphy at 1:45 pm on the Pennsylvania Avenue Stage. And if you just can't get enough taiko, come join us for our Open House on Sunday, April 12, 2-3 pm!

- Emily