As The Brothers Cazimero prep for their 30th annual Lei Day concert Tuesday at the Waikiki Shell — with the usual Hawaiiana hoopla of songs, hula and surprise guests — ponder the 31st. Next year's won't be on May Day, when May 1 falls on a Thursday (because of a leap year). It's likely to be on May 3, a Saturday.

Get used to it.

"Thirty years after the first one, the clock has been ticking," said Robert Cazimero, who said big changes are in store in 2008 and beyond. "We can't believe where time has gone since the first one, when we came down on a helicopter. We can't believe how many people we've had on the Shell stage over time. And while we're not going to quit, we'll formulate a different Lei Day."

Weekday celebrations, like this year's, have become a challenge, Robert said. "We appreciate people coming out, year after year, especially on working days. So we've been lucky; but we need to take it a little easier, too. And we think the Shell needs to be improved."

Like those termite issues.

"But the show's still going to be fun, looking backward," said Roland Cazimero. "But we're looking forward at some changes."

There will be just one guest this year, said Robert, who would not identify the performer. But there will be a lot more hula halau, fresh from this year's Merrie Monarch Festival in Hilo, with Miss Aloha Hula Keonilei Fairbanks among those featured.

The Cazimeros were at Merrie Monarch when they heard about the death of Don Ho on April 14. They were devastated by the news.

This, after repeated efforts to secure his services as a guest in the past. "We came close once," Robert said, "but then he had a conflict."

So Robert and Roland will pay homage to Mr. Waikiki, whom they count as an early mentor and supporter when they still were members of The Sunday Manoa, a then-innovative ensemble featuring Peter Moon, which was at the core of the Hawaiian music renaissance among budding performers.

"Don used to come see us; we were at Chuck's Cellar (in the Reef Towers Hotel) and he was upstairs (in the Polynesian Palace)," Robert recalled. "He used to say, 'No listen to the others; do what you do and it will pay off,' and when somebody like Don Ho says that, you really appreciate ... much later in life."

"I remember him singing 'NightLife.' Robert remembers 'I'll Remember You,' " Roland said. "He helped us then, but he helped a lot other people. He would come see us in his bathrobe (after his own show) and tell us, 'Sing, Robert. Sing, Boze (Roland).' "

Ho's show stance — a host who welcomes and introduces a parcel of guests — could be a model for future May Day pageantry, Robert said.

"I really wouldn't mind taking it easy — present the music, sing a few songs, let the rest of our guests perform," said Robert, acknowledging Ho's format. "He certainly left a legacy."

Robert and Roland launched the community-wide Lei Day songfest because they cherished their grade-school pageantry while growing up in Kalihi.

"In those days, everyone had a May Day program at school," Robert said. "Complete with maypole."

The practice stopped and thus, the Waikiki Shell tradition was born.

The Caz remember the Lei Day court, too, so they'll tap halau dancers to re-create those moments on stage. Featured dancer Leina'ala Kalama Heine will prevail as lei queen.

Further, with his hula roots, Robert — who is kumu hula of Halau Na Kamalei — will assemble four graduates who have become kumu hula in their own right (Manu Boyd, Moses Crabbe, Karl "Veto" Baker and Michael Casupang) for a kahiko segment.

Roland, who tends to most of the musical arrangement needs, said he and Robert have been planning Lei Day for months, often with Robert doing longdistance huddling during his frequent jaunts to Japan.

"He's always giving me something to work on, sending me ideas from Japan," Roland said.

"And we've tested some music earlier, in our Hawai'i Theatre show, and discovered what works and what doesn't in our Wednesday shows at Chai's (Chai's Island Bistro, at the Aloha Tower Marketplace)," Roland said.

But one thing has never changed. "Make a lei, wear a lei, give a lei," Robert said.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.