Pulse picks: Live art, Blu Dragon, Hard Rock Rising
Artists rally to support Kumu Kahua
Artists at work at a previous Kumu Kahua benefit. (Courtesy photo)
Kumu Kahua Theatre is holding its second annual “Draw the Line” event on Friday, Feb. 17, allowing the public to both see the creative process in action and then take the product of that process home, all at an affordable price.
Starting at 6 p.m., 11 local artists will work for about two hours to create artwork in pen, ink, crayons, graphite and gouache on the lanai of the Chinatown theater. The works will be displayed immediately and made available for purchase for $20 each, with the money benefiting Kumu Kahua.
Among the participating artists are Solomon Enos, Ryan Higa, Jon J. Murakami, Aaron Padilla, Cade Roster, and Mike Watanabe. All art purchases will be be eligible for professional framing by Honolulu art dealer Robyn Buntin.
Kumu Kahua launched the program last year after budget troubles threatened to close the 41-year-old theater, which was established specifically to promote works by island playwrights and about local culture.
About 30 works were sold last year, and theater managing director Donna Blanchard hopes to top that by a significant margin this year.
“I just bought 100 sheets of acid-free paper,” she said.
Food and wine will be available for purchase and singer Stephanie Keiko Kong will perform. And since you’ll be at the Kumu Kahua Theatre, you can go to the 8 p.m. performance of Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s “Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre.”
“Draw the Line” runs from 6-7:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, on the lanai of Kumu Kahua Theatre, 46 Merchant St.
— Steven Mark, smark@staradvertiser.com
Japengo’s welcomes LGBT community
Japengo's sushi bar at night. (Courtesy photo)
Japengo Sushi Bar and Lounge at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa is launching a new afterhours event for Honolulu’s lesbian-gay-bisexual-transsexual community. It’s an additional foray into nightlife for Japengo, which hosts a Saturday night lounge called Capital at Japengo.
DJ Matt from Mystical Sounds will host the opening event. There will be no cover charge for the evening, which is for ages 21 and older.
The new monthly event, called Blu Dragon, will be held every third Friday from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and will feature a DJ, sushi bar and cocktails, and validated self-parking.
“We have been looking into different opportunities over the years but with the opening of Japengo, we have found the perfect venue for a new LGBT event,” said Vincent Brunetti, food and beverage director at Regency, in a statement.
Japengo’s is the newest Hyatt Waikiki restaurant, and features Pacific Rim Cuisine, sushi, and exotic cocktails. It is located on the third floor of the Ewa Tower at the hotel,, 2424 Kalakaua Ave. Information and reservations are available at 237-6180 or online at waikiki.hyatt.com.
— S.M.
Honolulu bands battle it out at Hard Rock
The alternative rock band 11th Hour in action. (Courtesy Shane Busby)
With a band name like 11th Hour, it sounds like the musicians are always ready to “kill” on stage, in the popular parlance of performance.
The alternative rock quartet will have its chance to impress starting Saturday night at the Hard Rock Cafe as the bands 11th Hour, 82fifty and Nightbloom kick off the Honolulu competition for Hard Rock Rising, a global battle of the bands. The band that ultimately wins the global battle will be part of the bill of the 2012 Hard Rock Calling music festival in London’s Hyde Park, July 13-15.
11th Hour — made up of lead singer-rhythm guitarist Doyle Purdy, lead guitarist Mike Elwood, bassist Lopaka Naone and drummer Caitlin Bunner — celebrates its first anniversary this month, and has spent its first year gigging around Oahu as much as possible, Purdy said.
To enter the contest, bands had to open a ReverbNation website account and post an original song, Purdy explained. For the local portion of the international contest, Hawaii residents went to the Hard Rock Rising Facebook page to vote. The top 9 bands with the most votes got into the qualifying rounds.
In upcoming rounds, Honolulu contestants are Sing the Body, Mano Kane, and M.O.J.O., competing on Feb. 25; and on March 3, AnyGivenChance, Crossroad Rebels, and paradise x; with March 10 to be the final performance round of the top three bands from the qualifiers.)
The bands will be judged Saturday and over the coming weeks by a guest judge panel that includes musicians, promoters and media.
“Over a month ago, we posted our original song ‘Because of You’ on the ReverbNation website,” said Purdy (listen by clicking here). “It’s an inspirational song, and it’ll be one of the songs we’ll be doing in our 20-minute set, which every band has to play. We’re going to start off with an acoustic song, then bust into our harder material. We thought it’d be good to throw in a little bit of dynamics.”
Purdy said “Because of You” was cowritten with former bass player John Manzanrez, and will be included on the band’s upcoming EP.
The Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu’s local winner will then be pitted against 86 other Hard Rock Cafe local winners from across the globe. This group will be narrowed down to the top 10 bands worldwide via fan voting on participating Hard Rock Facebook pages. A panel of celebrity judges and music industry professionals will select the top three winners, with the first-place finisher to be flown to London for the festival.
The Hard Rock Rising battle of the bands starts at 10 p.m. Saturday at Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu, 280 Beachwalk Avenue. Call 955-7383 or visit hardrock.com/honolulu.
— Gary Chun, gchun@staradvertiser.com
