Editor’s Pick: ‘Hard Rock Calling’ State Finals
April 16, 2010 by Star-Advertiser Staff
Filed under Editor's Picks, Nightlife
Bands face off for shot at festival gig
Star-Bulletin Staff
features@starbulletin.com
It’s a battle for Honolulu rock supremacy tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe when Friends of Adam and Phoenix Rose face off for an opportunity to play at the British music festival Hard Rock Calling.
The two bands each beat out three others last week to secure a spot in the Hawaii finals; the winner’s performance will be filmed and submitted to Hard Rock corporate to determine if the band will advance to the national finals.
While preliminary rounds were judged by a panel of contest sponsors, the finals will be a little more legit, thanks to input from Easy Music Center’s Peter Dods, Pimpbot’s Eric Lagrimas and Quadraphonix’s Shree Sadagopan.
>> Where: Hard Rock Cafe, 1837 Kapiolani Blvd.
>> When: 9 p.m. April 16
>> Cost: Free
>> Call: 955-7383
Inside HILife: Barfly
January 29, 2010 by Star-Advertiser Staff
Filed under Barfly, Featured
OnStage Drinks & Grinds marks 6 years
FL Morris / fmorris@starbulletin.com
ONSTAGE DRINKS & GRINDS SIXTH ANNIVERSARYwith the Dave Young Band and Friends of Adam » Where: OnStage Drinks & Grinds, 802 Kapahulu Ave. |
By Jason Genegabus
jason@starbulletin.com
By staying true to the mantra “Good Music, Good People, Good Times,” Kapa hulu’s OnStage Drinks & Grinds has been able to deal with two major challenges that could have easily closed down the bar.
“I would say the top two that faced not only us, but the entire bar industry, was first, the smoking ban, and then the downturn in the economy,” said co-owner Dave Young earlier this week. “But when we got involved, our whole goal was a long-term thing.
“I didn’t really see anything out there that I really wanted to do besides running this kind of business.”
Despite a brief drop in business when Hono lulu’s indoor-smoking ban was passed in 2006, Young said the reaction from regular customers has been nothing but favorable ever since. And even though some customers are spending less in the bar these days, an established presence by neighborhood college students has helped keep business relatively steady.
“In Kapahulu your residents are a combination of families who have been in the neighborhood for a long time,” Young said. “And then you also have a combination of students because we’re so close to the universities.
“So, we get a nice mix of the neighborhood folks and the college kids. It’s kind of like a ‘Cheers’ atmosphere, where everybody knows your name. It’s a real friendly bar.”
Pick up a copy of HILife in Friday’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin to read the rest of this story.
Inside HILife: ‘2009 Oahu Summer Blues Bash’
June 26, 2009 by Star-Advertiser Staff
Filed under Featured, Latest News
Filipino Blues
FL Morris / fmorris@starbulletin.com
By Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.com
SUMMER OAHU BLUES BASHWith Friends of Adam, Tell Mama, Northside Art and the Mixers, the Corey Funai Blues Band and Chris Vandercook with Mark Prados Where: Anna Bannana’s, 2440 S. Beretania St. When: 4 p.m. Sunday Cost: $5 Info: 946-5190 or kekelasounds@hawaii.rr.com |
For a colorful musical genre so closely related to black folks, the “blues” are all over the rainbow these days. Black, white and brown all over.
And as the Friends of Adam ask rhetorically on their Web site, Can three young Filipino men play the blues?
So well, apparently, that Friends of Adam are the only local blues band to play both of the now annual summer “Blues Bashes” at Anna Bannanas. This year, they’ll join Tell Mama, the Corey Funai Blues Band, Northside Art and the Mixers, and Chris Vandercook with Mark Prados.
Young and Filipino are descriptors rarely used for blues bands, and, like anything blues-related, nothing came easy. When he was just starting out, FOA guitarist Clay Campania – the rest of the band are Ernie Ecraela on bass and Justin Incelda on drums – asked a friend to teach him some hot riffs. He had no idea what the blues sounded like.
“I was never exposed to the blues. My parents didn’t listen to that stuff,” recalled Campania. “Before we actually could get together, he gave me the ‘Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Jimi Hendrix’ to listen to (and) It absolutely blew me away.
“After that I knew that the blues is what I wanted to play. It just felt good, and it felt right. While searching for more music on Jimi, that’s when I found other bluesmen, and the different styles of blues that they played. From Texas blues, to Chicago blues, and eventually some Delta blues. I just pressed play to see if I could make the sounds that these blues greats were making.”
They included Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, and “recently I’ve been trying to catch up on Johnny Winter and Rory Gallgher.”
Click here to read the rest of this story.
