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Riverside MLK High School marching band headlines benefit concert for Japan sister city Sendai
FIle photo: Part of Sendai's flooded airport facilities are being cleared by Japanese Self-Defense Force and the US military at Sendai Airportin the town of Natori, Miyagi prefecture on March 29, 2011.
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Riverside's Martin Luther King High School marching band is headlining a benefit concert for the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Proceeds will go to Riverside's longtime sister city - Sendai.
The concert is Riverside's latest effort to raise a million dollars for its battered sister city. Riverside's already raised nearly $400,000.
The city's King High School Band, "The Kingsmen," will perform. The award-winning band starred last year in the Gary Marshall film "Valentine's Day."
"If you haven't listened to the King High band, they are extraordinary," says Riverside councilman Paul Davis. "We have over 150 players in the band and they are really fired up about wanting to do the right thing and participate the best they can."
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Davis helped organize the concert. "The connection that we have with Sendai is very important to everybody throughout the city and we all recognize that. We can really reach out and show that we are a caring community and this community that we are supporting is really a part of us."
Sister cities Riverside and Sendai have maintained close ties for 60 years. The "Playing for a Cause Benefit Concert" starts at 7 tonight at Grove Community Church in Riverside.
"Tickets and donations are asked at $20 for adults, $15 for military and students with I.D.," says Davis.
Proceeds from the concert will be sent to the city of Sendai.
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