It's an homage that would certainly make Darth Sidious proud.

The Philippine Air Force bagged 1st place in Ihudyat!, a competition that gathered the best marching bands at UP Diliman Amphitheater on Saturday night.

Members of the PAF band wore Imperial stormtrooper masks inspired by the "Star Wars" movie franchise, as they went about playing brass instruments. (The glow-in-the-dark tops were a functionally appropriate touch, too, given the time of the event.)

To complete the ensemble, the band leader was all decked out in a Darth Vader costume, red lightsaber in hand. To say it was the most awesome sight to behold is selling short the band's performance and sense of creativity.

Second place was awarded to the Philippine Army for performing Michael Jackson music, while third went to the Philippine Coast Guard for playing a mishmash of classical music.