“Glory days well they’ll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl’s eye
Glory days, glory days”
– Bruce Springsteen
Those were the good ol’ days. Derek Tatsuno, Deitre Collins, and Bob Nash of the “Fabulous five.” I remember Niko Noga, Yuval Katz, Mario Monico, Natasha Kai, and Pono Ma’a.
And of course, Colt….
While strumming the guitar tonight, I reminisced about the good ol’ days. And then I thought about the “curse.” Yup. Every establishment that I ever played at closed down. Literally.
My “world premiere” took place at the old Monterey Bay Canners at the Ward Centre. My friend Garrett had a gig there. One quiet evening, he let me play. There were about five people in the audience. One week later, they went bankrupt. Swear to God.
Garrett’s next gig was at Randy’s in Kahala Mall. The place was actually crowded. He called me up. I had enough “liquid courage” to stink-up the place. Randy’s went bankrupt in two weeks.
I was teaching at Kapolei Elementary when I had the opportunity to back up our children’s choir at the Aloha Tower’s Pier Bar. It was Christmas. They went bankrupt in a month and later became Kapono’s.
Years later, I played at the Tropiccino’s coffee shop in the Kapolei Marketplace. Nothing happened. A year later, I played there again. Soon after, they went bankrupt. Shucks….
A short time after that, my friend Garrett asked me to play at the Mai Tai Bar at Ala Moana. This time I refused. Til this day, the Mai Tai Bar is one of the most popular spots in town.
So…. if you’re open for business, don’t ask. True story, bro….
Attended the first Nonstop Kaka’ako event, “an urban food, retail, and entertainment experience.” It’s a pop-up block party. It was fun, and the weather was perfect. It’s a really neat concept, and I hope they do more events like this. I guess the goal is to promote Kaka’ako as the “hub” of Honolulu.
The variety of food was impressive. It was like an Eat the Street event on steroids. I had my first Chicago Dog at Hank’s Haute Dogs. There were shopping tents filled with fashion items from some of the hottest boutiques in town. There was even a cigar bar, a beer garden, and the UH football game on a large inflatable screen. They even had free wi-fi set up for this event.
The highlight for me was running into former students at the Anuhea concert at the main stage. It was a fun night….
Attended the Hawaii Five-O World Premiere / “Sunset on the Beach” event tonight in Waikiki.
It was a spectacular afternoon at Waikiki Beach. Gorgeous weather, nice breeze, good waves. It made for the perfect backdrop for this event.
There were concerts, food tents, and just too many people. It was way too crowded. They estimated that there were more than 10,000 here. I thought to myself, “Wow, look at all these crazy people….” Then I realized that I was one of them. As the celebrities arrived onto the red carpet, there was an incredible energy in the air. People were screaming and holding up their iPhones & iPads to capture the moment. I was not able to take any photos of them since I was 5 rows deep behind the barricade.
Luckily, the Red Bull girls wanted to be on my blog…. ahem.
The event actually started a little after 7pm. It opened with fire dancers & Tahitian dancers. Then there were speeches by local dignitaries. When the stars were finally introduced, the crowd erupted. It had that rock concert atmosphere.
But my true adventure of the day was actually catching the Bus. The last time I rode the bus was in 1986. I just didn’t want to fight the traffic and fight for parking. I had to call the operator to make sure that I would be catching the right bus on the right street. Riding the Bus in Waikiki at night is truly an experience.
But here’s the crazy part. I stayed for all of the festivities, but left right before the actual premiering of the episode. I was off to the side and had a poor view of the screen. So until Monday, “Be there, Aloha….”
Went to the Greek Festival Honolulu 2011 today at the McCoy Pavilion, Ala Moana Beach Park. It was my first one. Always wanted go, but it was way too inconvenient with the traffic and crowds. Now, it’s a 15 minute walk from home. It was great.
There were food, crafts, & t-shirt booths, and live entertainment. The McCoy Pavilion is a really nice place for an event such as this….
There was a second stage in the auditorium with cultural dances and performances.
I had my gyros and my Aris, so I was good to go! Hope to visit there someday….
Alan Tamayose 