Night Lights: Weekend Wrapup Jan. 6-9
I started my weekend off right by doing something I haven’t gotten a chance to do in a long time: Going to the First Thursday poetry slam at Fresh Cafe. It’s something that a hugely diverse crowd of people goes to, and I highly recommend it.
About 26 poets took the stage for an allotted three minutes each and performed their hearts out, and although a few were ehhh, most of them were really good. They took the audience through the gamut of human emotion, inducing tears and laughter, anger and reflection. And even though it’s been a while since I’ve written a poem of my own, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and as a writer, kept marveling at how dynamic and alive the spoken word can be, especially from the lips of such talented people.
Photos don’t do it justice, but here’s a gallery, just to give you an idea (and hopefully a video at a later date):
First Thursday Poetry Slam @ Fresh Cafe
First Friday seemed like a bigger deal this year than it has been for the last several months. There were a LOT of people out on the street, even before the clubs opened. It’s like they’d been waiting all year for it… oh wait, they were.
While this month was a bit unusual for me because I didn’t get the chance to hit many of the bars and clubs after 9 p.m., I’m so glad I got there early. There was all kinds of interesting stuff going on.
Walking down Hotel Street around 8 p.m., I noticed the doors to Paul Shih’s new club, Lotus Downtown (the reincarnation and relocation of Waikiki’s Lotus Soundbar), were open and people were scurrying around inside, clearing all the construction materials out of the way and getting ready for a party.
Lotus Downtown before they officially opened. Nobody saw it because it was closed, but there will also be a back room.
About half the staff from NextDoor were working inside… turns out Paul managed to get a special event license for First Friday (that lasted til midnight, when everyone got kicked out), even though they won’t be ready to open for another couple of weeks at least. Of course the Liquor Commission were there with their clipboards, keeping a close eye on things at Lotus and the other fledgling spot on the street, Downbeat Diner.
Speaking of fledgling spots, kudos to the Doner Shack, headed up by a couple of young guys with ambition and mad improvisation skills. Normally they serve up their delicious doner kebabs (doners are Turkish for what you might know as Greek gyros, with lamb and other meat sliced off a rotating spit) in a trailer somewhere around Fort Street Mall, but for First Friday, they were operating out of the elevator shaft beside SoHo like it was no big thing.
Apparently the updraft in the elevator shaft worked well for them…
Want to know where they’ll be next? Follow Doner Shack on Facebook! NOW!
Here’s the rest of my First Friday gallery. Hi, Soni & friends!
A little after midnight, I headed down to The Villa, a place I had yet to check out. I know, I should be ashamed of myself for not getting to a new place sooner. Trust me, I am.
First impressions: Owner Burt Kawasaki, from Bonsai, has done a good job with this place. Spacious, open, better-lit than most nightclubs, great dancefloor, great sound system. $6-$10 drinks? All right, that’s doable. $2 validated parking at Aloha Tower? Not bad. About the same crowd you’d find at Bonsai, or Ka, or Ginza, dress code enforced, thank you very much. While I was there, I caught Bryan Yoshida and the boys from Element Group rolling in to check out the new place too, and ended up comparing notes with them. Here’s the gallery:
Saturday, I was feeling a bit under the weather, but still gathered myself to go to Alt/Air’s CD release party at NextDoor. Besides being one of the shyest bands on the Island (you’d better believe they get nervous before every performance), electronica duo Aly Ishikuni and Brandon Udani are also two of the sweetest people in the scene. Collectively, they’re probably the most vertically-challenged band on the Island too… but I kid, I kid. Anyway, the show was great, and if I were you, I’d definitely put them on my list of local bands to watch this year.
After Alt/Air was done, I headed over to say happy birthday to Ka Restaurant & Lounge, celebrating their first anniversary in style. While it wasn’t as insanely packed as their grand opening (who could forget that? It was so crowded that I, who excel at taking pictures in a crowd, could barely find room to raise my camera), there was still a good crowd in attendance. Here’s the gallery:
So who’s going out next weekend? Umm… me… Duh. I can honestly say I’ve been waiting since high school to see Tool, who will be playing at Blaisdell Friday, and Flash & Matty Boy’s final White Party on Saturday is definitely not one to miss. See you out there!
