A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (I've got to stop saying that, but it is the only thing that fits!), I used to attend a marching band event called the Maytime Band Review in National City. My first one was, I think, in 1990, and I remember that back then, in southern California, we have numerous band reviews that took place in the spring. That is not the case anymore, but I remember, and I took many photos.
Well, I would attend this event from time to time, but back in 1992, I remember, it was cancelled because of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. Yes, it was a difficult time back then, and I was living in Los Angeles, and I remember seeing the haze of smoke coming from the central part of town as businesses were burned and looted, and we who were living in West Los Angeles were fearful that caravans of rioters would descend on us soon.
About ten years later, I was able to attend another version of the Maytime Band Review. I didn't get to attend many, normally in Spring I would be busy with graduate school during the semester terms, but I was free, and as far as I can determine, based on my memories of seeing the Temple City majorette (who appears in the first few photos, and who I also remember being in the Tournament of Roses parade), these photos are from 2004. The event would be cancelled shortly because the organizer, I understood, was not able to continue in that capacity. There ensued a hiatus of over ten years, but in the last few years, they have sought to bring this event back. However, it is not held in early May anymore, it is held in the fall, and it is a much smaller event. This year, of course, it was not held at all because these events were cancelled due to Covid.
Here is one roll of photos from this event. Little did I know it would be my last one.
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