Marching music for the Hawaii Democratic Primary

I was so busy writing about Trump threatening Michigan over mailing absentee ballot applications then visiting the Great Lakes State while refusing to wear a mask on camera while Michigan flooded that I missed the 2020 Hawaii Democratic primary on May 22. Oops. I guess I'm not used to voting deadlines that are on Friday. Still, since I promised I would do so in Marching music for the Oregon Primary and extended the voting deadline for the 2019 Golden Coffee Cups until tomorrow night, I'm going to follow through and make this the Sunday entertainment feature. Instead of marching music to watch and listen while waiting for the results, it will be to celebrate the successful completion of a vote-by-mail primary.

First, the news about the vote itself from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: Joe Biden wins mail-in Hawaii Democratic presidential primary.

Former Vice President Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in Hawaii in the party’s first mail-in presidential primary in the islands, the Democratic Party of Hawaii announced Saturday.

Biden received 63.2% of the ranked-choice votes, or 21,214 votes, while Sen. Bernie Sanders received 36.8%, or 12,337 ranked-choice votes.

The party decided last year to hold a mail-in ballot to increase participation and also because it fulfilled a Democratic National Committee request that the state move away from a caucus election and toward a primary.

Party members were supposed to have the option of voting in-person on April 4, but that was canceled because of the virus and the mail-in voting period was extended.

Video by Craig T. Kojima

While the description does a good job of reporting the primary results, the video didn't. For that, I turn to KHON2 News' Democratic Party of Hawaii announces presidential primary results.

The Democratic Party of Hawaii released the results for the 2020 presidential primary election. Joe Biden won with 63% of the votes, while Bernie Sanders came in second with 37%.

Those were the results after voters' second and third choices were considered. In the initial round, Biden had 56.0%, Sanders 30.8%, Elizabeth Warren 4.8%, Tulsi Gabbard 3.9%, Michael Bloomberg 1.3%, and Andrew Yang 1.0% with all other candidates receiving less than one percent each. I think that was Gabbard's best showing since winning a delegate in American Samoa, not that it did her any good to come in fourth in her home state.

Enough politics — on to the marching music! Since there are no competitive drum corps in Hawaii, follow over the jump for the Hawaiian marching bands that have marched in the Rose Parade during the past five years and been recorded by Music213.

I begin with the most recent participant, Kamehameha HS Warrior Marching Band at the 2020 Pasadena Bandfest.

From Honolulu, Hawaii Kamehameha High School Warrior Marching Band & Color Guard performing their musical selections at the 40th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Sunday, December 29, 2019. This band will make their fifth appearance in the 131st Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Wednesday, January 1, 2020.

As a University of Michigan alum, I was glad to hear them play "Hawaiian War Chant," which serves as one of U of M's unofficial fight songs. This version has more Don Ho and less gung ho in it.

Now for Kamehameha Warrior Marching Band & Color Guard marching in the 2020 Pasadena Rose Parade.

From Honolulu, Hawaii
Kamehameha High School Warrior Marching Band & Color Guard performing at the 131st Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Wednesday, January 1, 2020.

The Bandfest video included a member of the band who had marched the year before in the Hawaii All-State Band. Here are their performances, beginning with Na Koa Ali'i - Hawai'i All-State Marching Band - 2019 Pasadena Bandfest.

Representing the state of Hawaii, Na Koa Ali'i Hawai'i All-State Marching Band performing their musical selections at the 39th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Saturday, December 29th 2018.

That's worth watching for the fire dance alone.

Now, Na Koa Ali'i - Hawai'i All-State Marching Band marching in the 2019 Pasadena Rose Parade.

Representing the state of Hawaii, Na Koa Ali'i Hawai'i All-State Marching Band performing at the 130th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Tuesday, January 1, 2019.

That was probably the strongest performance at the parade of all the bands. A lot of them have the unfortunate habit of playing better at the pass in review during Bandfest than they do the next day at the parade. Not these guys!

Both of the above organizations performed in concert and parade. For a competitive field show, watch Punahou HS Marching Band - 2016 Pasadena Bandfest.

From Honolulu, Hawaii,
The Punahoou High School Marching Band performing their musical selections at the 36th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Tuesday, December 29th 2015.

That was a serious show, even if the band played "Gilligan's Island," "Popeye the Sailor Man," and "Pirates of the Caribbean" as part of its nautical-themed program.

Now, here's Punahou HS Marching Band marching in the 2016 Pasadena Rose Parade.

From Honolulu, Hawaii,
The Punahoou High School Marching Band performing their musical selections at the 127th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Friday, January 1st 2016. This is the band's fourth Rose Parade appearance.

The last band I'm featuring today is Maui HS Saber Marching Band - 2015 Pasadena Bandfest, who is also performing a serious field show.

From Kahului, Maui Hawaii Maui High School Saber Marching Band performing their musical selections at the 35th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest on Tuesday, December 30th 2014.

As I've mentioned before, I used to be a marching band judge. In my expert opinion, that was an outstanding performance, especially in the rain.

For the final video, watch Maui HS Saber Marching Band marching in the 2015 Pasadena Rose Parade.

From Kahului, Maui Hawaii Maui High School Saber Marching Band performing at the 126th Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade on Thursday, January 1st 2015. This is Maui High School's first appearance in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

I am going to recycle what I wrote after the last band's videos in Marching music for the Nebraska Primary.

Seeing this pair of videos reminds me of my experience growing up in southern California that it could be cold, rainy, and windy the week before the Rose Parade, but as soon as New Year's Day dawns, the skies will clear and the sun will shine. It's as if the Southland knows the cameras will be on it and it responds with "it's showtime!" It almost never fails.

Once again, it worked like a charm.

This series will return on June 2, 2020, when the District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Dakota will hold their presidential nominating primaries for a final mini-Super Tuesday. Watch for the Pennsylvania drum corps, if nothing else. Until then, stay tuned for Memorial Day.