Pics courtesy of Angie and Tash:

Yvonne and me.

“Da Crew”: Yvonne, me, Keala, Angie and Tash. Tash strategically set the camera on the trunk of her car and put it on automatic.

Me, Yvonne, Angie and Keala.

Me, Yvonne and Angie. Peace!

Then, on Veteran’s Day, I went with my sister to the 28th Annual Rainbow Invitational at Aloha Stadium. Lots of great high school marching bands, but I was a little disappointed Waianae’s band wasn’t there. I’m sure my sister was, too… she’s in it! Their band is too small for the minimum 25 members needed to make decent formations on the football field. Oh, and UH’s marching band is kick ass! They closed the show.

Afterwards, Mom picked us up and took us to Zippy’s. Mmmm… won ton mein… again… (the last pic is the happy face the chef or waitress made out of the mustard)

Below are pics from that night. I forgot to take out my phone until the third band, Kailua, performed, so I didn’t get pics of Campbell and Nanakuli. =(

It looks Photoshopped, but it’s not!

Kailua High School

Aiea High School

Farrington High School

Kapolei High School… their theme was Blues Brothers. They later brought out two cardboard cop cars and a cardboard car with two Blues Brothers, complete with car exhaust, lol.

Castle High School… they did a Grease theme. Heehee.

Roosevelt High School

Leilehua High School

Kalani High School

Kaiser High School – their theme was Guitar Hero… in this pic, the band is coming out of the Guitar Hero video game box LOL.

Mililani High School

Kamehameha Schools. Their theme was “The Gates,” so of course, the orange things on the field are gates.

Pearl City High School

Moanalua High School – their band is HUGE… bigger than UH’s band and I suppose the largest high school band in the state. Jeremy says the band has about 150 members!

Punahou School – another huge band

UH Manoa’s band… complete with a baton thrower!

Representatives from each band receive their participation plaques.

Smile!

Shiny Toy Guns is a band and I was going to their concert. With Angie, Tasha and Keala in tow, we trekked to Pipeline Cafe for what would be three hours of standing, pushing, shoving, relenting, and (finally) enjoying.

The first act, Control-Alt-Delete, was previously unannounced. It started off promising with an electronic beat — the band played a mix of electronic and indie rock music — but progressed into something that was too incomprehensible (lyrically and musically) to enjoy. I could not understand a word they sang except for the female vocalist’s “oh’s.” They played four or five songs and I swear, two of them sounded almost exactly alike, thanks again to the female vocalist’s “oh’s.” At one point, Angie said (like she was addressing the female singer), “Let me see your tits!”… to which I replied, “What tits?!” She was about as thin as a toothpick and I laughed as she tried, with failure, to wear a huge sombrero on her skinny head. What I found especially amusing was that the crowd to the right of the stage started pushing and moshing right when Control-Alt-Delete started playing, once again proving that people will choose to mosh to the weirdest music.

Okay, now that that’s out of my system… the next act, which was announced, was National Product. They’re originally from Hawaii but have since moved to the OC. I didn’t really pay any attention to them, and stood by the bar to avoid the pushing and shoving of the crowd. I watched as Tasha, Angie and Keala — well, Tasha especially — fought off the crowd. Later, we managed to stand together by the bar, where it was a bit safer (but not a bit less uncomfortable). That is, until a security guard told us we had to move to the back… presumably because we were blocking access to the bar and restrooms. And this was during National Product’s second-to-the-last song. Shucks.

After squeezing our way to the back, where it was way more roomier, we waited as the crew set up for Shiny Toy Guns. It felt like an eternity. Jets of mist sprayed from the ceiling, cooling the crowd off.

Finally, the time had come. STG started off with, appropriately, “Starts with One.” It was a short set, but what do you expect from a band that so far has only one album and an EP out? (But that was a good thing, since Angie had work and I had class — a midterm, no less — the next day.)

The set list… somewhat (but not necessarily) in order:
“Starts with One”
“Rocket Ship”
“Chemistry of a Car Crash”
“Le Disko”
“Shaken”
“Jackie Will Save Me”
“Don’t Cry Out”
“Rainy Monday”
“You Are the One”

Encore:
“Waiting”

We ended up leaving before the encore, but we heard them play “Waiting” as we made our way to the car.

Pics:

Videos:

“Chemistry of a Car Crash”:

“Le Disko”:

“Rainy Monday”:

“You Are the One”: