Hey braddahs and sistahs, just returned from a week in Waikiki, longboarding and checking out the local steel players every night. If you are heading that way, you are in for a treat real. Before I left, I printed out the "Who's Playing Where" list from the HSGA sight. This WAS a help, though very out of date. I got too see and hear Greg Sardinha, Eddie Palmeri, Kaipo Kukahiko, Alan Akaka, Bobby Ingano and Peter Ah Sing. They were all doing the sunset shows (5:30-8:30), at either the Moana or the House Without A Key (in the Hulekalani Hotel), all in a trio format with a Hula dancer (Kanoa Miller was exceptionally fine and when she did "Keep Your Eyes On The Hands", I DID want to "mow the lawn". These guys are all fantastic players and were friendly and gracious. Some exceptional moments were Bobby Ingano's swinging style on his Fry-Pan complete with clever volume control sound effects, Alan Akaka's group doing How Do Ya Do with all the vocal parts (I didn't even know it had lyrics), and of course sipping the mighty Mai Tais as the sun went down and the catamarans sailed by in the background. There's no cover charge for the shows, but these hotels are up-scale and the atmosphere is rather subdued. I highly recommend making the effort, if you are heading to the islands. A couple of tips: if you're surfing Queens...don't take off in front of the locals (I knew this already), if you are driving...don't honk your horn and don't give anyone the finger. I overheard this one given to a haole by one of the braddahs in the line-up. He said "that stuff doesn't fly over here". I didn't do any driving. All I needed was right there.
Haere mai,
Steve H.
S8A6 (apologies for any mispelled names)[This message was edited by Steve Honum on 06 August 2002 at 08:28 AM.]
