Night Lights Weekend Wrapup June 9-11
Even with all the brilliant stuff going on this weekend, the most impressive show was the thunder and lightning storms. Sometimes it looked like strobes, the lightning bolts were so close together. According to KITV’s report, all the lighting strikes Friday morning were due to cold air in the upper atmosphere, something which those of us woken up at 3 am by window-rattling claps of thunder probably didn’t care much about.
Unfortunately, I never got a good lightning shot this weekend, because every time I pointed my camera at the sky and tried to capture it, a building or a tree or clouds got in the way. This might also be due to the fact that I was always en route at the time. One person who did get amazing shots, though, was Nonstop’s Dallas Nagata White. Visit her blog. You won’t regret it.
Oh yeah, the weekend. Well, first up, I suppose, was the Red Bull BPM app launch party at NextDoor, sponsored in part by Nonstop. John Garcia and Doc Rock went to the VIP pre-party to scope out the app and do a tech review, and I actually ended up arriving just as the VIP part ended, for the public party. Many thanks to special guest photog Jonas Maon, for his beautiful photos of the pre-party!
With that much Red Bull, people were all looking surprisingly alert and energetic. Shout-out to Kristen Oshiro of Sweet Lychee Productions, too, for downing about seven Red Bulls and being the most adorable life of the party ever!
Although Red Bull is a huge corporation, one of the really cool localized things they’ve been doing, according to rep Rob Mora, is working with local DJs from the Nocturnal Sound Krew, training them to use the app for their regular club sets. And from what I could see and hear, Eskae, Compose and Delve were kicking ass on the new app, mixing on iPads similar to how they would on a computer.
Here’s pics of some people and scenes from the party!
Friday was First Friday, and although everyone was scared that it was going to rain, it didn’t. Late in the night, people really started showing up, and it ended up being the most crowded First Friday I’ve seen in ages. I spotted the guy from Family Dinner with his megaphone, the Besouro Capoeira crew, the Hare Krishnas, whose dancing totally captivated everyone waiting to get into the clubs on Hotel Street, and all sorts of other colorful people. Some weekends I’m constantly surprised by how many cool people I know, and on First Friday, I got to see a whole lot of them. Here are just a few…
Saturday started with a first-ever Nonstop Honolulu retreat/extended meeting/potluck at Podium Raceway in Kapolei. My first time there, and I was pretty impressed with the facilities, even if I didn’t do that well on the track. If you like go-karts, definitely check it out. The adult cars go up to 45 MPH… seriously. It was nice hanging out with most of the expanding Nonstop team. We’re planning some cool stuff, including our first anniversary party, so stay tuned!
Saturday night, there was way too much to choose from. I lamented that I was only one person, tried to figure out a time schedule for being in three places at once and finally decided to go to the Goddess Alchemy concert at NextDoor. The show actually ended up taking all night, and because of some serious technical difficulties, the main act didn’t get to go on until around 1:20 am. Instead of giving up though, the ladies from Goddess Alchemy bravely jumped on and did their best to make it up to the crowd, playing until after 2 am.
It was a bit annoying, to be sure, but opening acts Sex Puppets and Kings of Spade were good, and once Goddess Alchemy came on, I was seriously impressed. From a freestyle rapping flow to smoky, sultry lounge vocals to soaring soprano harmonies, these ladies really make each of their individual talents and voices work.
This weekend, we’ve got some big stuff coming up, first of which is BAMP Project’s Republik Music Festival on Saturday, with Steel Pulse, Matisyahu, Rebelution, The Dirty Heads, The Green and The Throwdowns. If you haven’t heard already, the BAMP crew are working on opening up a new venue of their own, and this brand new music fest is part of the ramp-up.
Acid Wash ‘80s night moves back to NextDoor on Wednesday, Nextworking Professionals meetup takes over Chai’s Island Bistro on Thursday pau hana, and Indigo Ultralounge launches a new soul night, Soul City, on Friday and a new house/electronica night, Submerged Saturdays, on Saturday.
See you around!
