Charlene comes home to her parent’s place with her girlfriend in the southernmost corner of the Big Island of Hawaii. She hasn’t yet come out to her father. Soon after arriving, they learn that the volcano is erupting. The father still wants to plant new coffee plants. Charlene doesn’t want to, but her girlfriend wants to help out.
Mary Lyon Kamitaki has written a hilarious play which also explores the difficult question of when to leave in the face of a natural disaster.
Allan Okubo is hilarious as the father, who is resistant to change, but in a cute old man way. Sanae Tokumura is excellent as the mother, so loving and caring for her family. Stu Hirayama is so funny as the helpful neighbor. Ember solid is great as Charlene, who doesn’t want to take over her father’s business. Lastly, Violette Skilling is great as the girlfriend, who is taking in the whole situation along with the audience.
Cost of a ticket: $31
PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Exceptional Value –
Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Discounted > Go for Free > Don’t Bother
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Pure Heart formed in 1994 as a group of friends on Oahu with Jake Shimabukuro on ukelele. The group disbanded in 2000 and Jake launched his solo career. Since 2014, they have occasionally regrouped. Tonight’s show is basically a homecoming show for them.
Early on in the set, Shimabukuro plays “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles. This song allows Jake to truly shine as it begins slow with the traditional ukelele sound and then transforms into electric guitar tones. “Wow! I didn’t know the ukelele could sound like that!” said an audience member.
Later on, he plays a song by Jeff Beck, “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers”. The influence is clearly heard while he incorporates his own exceptional ukelele style as well.
He then brings out the members of Pure Heart. One of the songs features the percussionist expertly vocalizing soft bird sounds. Shimabukuro mentions that those who just heard the CD, assumed they went out into the woods and recorded birds.
Jake gives a lot of shout outs to people he knows in the crowd including his high school wrestling coach and a friend who had him play at their graduation party.
To close out the show, they play “Europa” by Carlos Santana. Jake truly shreds on this one and sends the crowd out with big smiles on their faces.
Cost of a ticket: $56 (Plus a minimum $20 per person)
PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It –
Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Discounted > Go for Free > Don’t Bother
Jesse Cook takes the stage solo and jumps right into “Tempest” from his 1995 album of the same name. It’s a rocker and it’s immediately clear the audience is in for a great night of music.
After playing this song, he talks about how on that first album, he played all the instruments himself. It was a lot of work. So, he decided to play with other musicians going forward. He brings out Marito Marques from Portugal to play percussion with him. They play “La Rumba D’el Jefe” from his 2009 album, The Rumba Foundation. They feed off each other’s energy in a great performance.
He then introduces Matt Sellick on guitar from Thunder Bay, Ontario in Canada. Later in the night, he tells the story about how they met. When Matt was 7 years old, he first heard Jesse Cook’s music and he told his mother that he wanted to learn to play that. So, he began taking guitar lessons. About 10 years later, Matt sends Jesse a recording of him playing. Jesse says it sounds like he plays the songs better than he can. So, he goes to Thunder Bay to kill him, just kidding he says. They do meet and play together and get along very well. Years later, when the guitar position in his band opens up, he invites Sellick to join and he accepts!
Cook then says they need to continue to fill out the sound and he brings out Dan Minchom on Bass Guitar. The now four-piece band plays “Virtue” from the 2000 album, Free Fall. It’s very cool to see how the fullness of the music keeps building as they add musicians.
To introduce the next band mate, Cook dives into the history of flamenco music. He talks about how Andalusia in Spain was under Moorish rule and that the capital was Baghdad. Then he brings out Fethi Najem on violin and mandole, who blends flamenco and Arabian music. They play “Baghdad”, which is also from his debut album.
In the encore, they play “Mario Takes A Walk” from his 1996 album, Gravity. This is his most popular track on Spotify with over 8.2 million streams. The audience is blown away and responds with a huge applause afterwards. Jesse Cook has truly assembled a superb band full of very talented musicians and it makes for a fantastic evening of music.
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