Heavy metal - a la Japanese

I spent the day covering the Sakura Matsuri (cherry blossom festival) in DC, up close and personal, thanks to a media pass which allowed unimpeded access to all sorts of places -- including the back of the stage. That festival is the largest one-day celebration of Japanese culture in the US and the capstone to two weeks of festivities. You can see from the shot how packed it was, over the length of six city blocks.

My chosen assignment was for the J-pop section and I got my fill of alternative heavy metal - the most impressive of which -- in terms of sheer volume -- was a diminutive Japanese girl with an amazing set of pipes! My ears are still ringing and when I stood right next to the speakers, I thought my clothes were going to blow off. A kinetic experience... ;)

I occasionally wandered off to the other end of the festival to catch my breath with more 'traditional' -- and soothing -- Japanese performances. What a fun day this was!

I've not caught the blossoms themselves yet; I think I'll let the weekend (and its two million visitors!) pass before I venture down to the Tidal Basin. I don't think the world will miss yet another shot of the lovely blossoms :)