Magic Mushroom Reunion Party IV at the Manoa Grand Ballroom (5/17/2014)

  

This was our 4th Magic Mushroom  Reunion Party at the Manoa Grand Ballroom in Moiliili.  What a night! This was a standing room only event!  Tables for this event were sold out months ahead of the event night. Mahalo again to Dennis & Joy Matsukawa and their family for organizing this event; along with celebrity MC Bart DeSilva of KKOL-FM 107.9 Radio.  It was a pleasure to see and catch up with many friends we haven't seen in awhile.  Truly a Reunion Party!

Tonight's line up:  THE NEW EXPERIENCE II, WHITE LIGHT, and AUDISSEY & FRIENDS with special guest Rob Yamamoto, formerly of Natural High; and Ron Tokunaga formerly of Greenwood. Check out these captured golden moments:

THE NEW EXPEREINCE II  - some of the songs played:  Donna Summer Medley, Stevie Wonder Medley, EWF Medley, Play That Funky Music, Standing On Shakey Ground. Everybody Wants You, and My Hawaii.



*The band members of THE NEW EXPERIENCE II: Edwin Ramones - Bandleader/Keys/Vocals; Renell Magarang-Yim- Vocals; Gary Omalza - Lead Guitar, Vocals; Rex Baccay Bass guitar/Vocals; and Ben Juan - Drums/Vocals.

http://www.70snightclubreunion.com/info/bios/new_experience.html


WHITE LIGHT - some of the songs played:  Soul Man, Dancing Queen, Boogie Wonderland, Mony Mony, Make Me Smile, Heart of Rock and Roll, and the Electric Slide.



*The band members of WHITE LIGHT:  Joy Waikaloa - Vocals; Tommy Kamisato - Bandleader/Trumpet/Vocals; Arex Ikehara - Bass Guitar/Vocals; Don Tsuha - Trumpet/Vocals; Sherman Kang - Sax; Gerald Tomosawa - Trumpter/Drums; Layne Maeoka - Drums; Daniel Kurose - Guitar; George Mosier - Guitar; Larry Isobe - Key Boards; and Howard Nataka - Vocals.

http://www.70snightclubreunion.com/info/bios/white_light.html

AUDISSEY & FRIENDS - some of the songs played:  Celebration, Vehicle, Angel Baby, Long Train Running, Everybody's Everything, Mustang Sally and We're An American Band,



*The band members of AUDISSEY & FRIENDS:  Dennis Matsukawa - Bandleader/guitar/vocals; Brad Nakanishi - Keyboards/vocals, Rob Yamamoto - Vocals; Ron Tokunaga - Vocals; Lester Higa - Vocals; Dean Guzman - Vocals; Galen Onouye - Base guitar; Sterling Sakuma - Drums/congas; Ben Juan - Drums/congas; Jarry Gomes - Trumpet; Alan Nakamoto - Trumpet; Ashley Harding - Saxophone; and Isaac Nishimura - Saxophone.

Mahalo to all that made this night a great success!  See you all at MMRP # 5; which is already set for November 29th! Till then, Don't Stop The Music!

Royal Kunia Street Band Live at Ige's Restaurant & 19th Puka (1-10-2014)

This posting is a little late. We had a busy calendar. But the like old adage says 'better late than never'.  Especially when it's part of the count down to the final days at Ige's Restaurant.  There was no hesitation, we just had to share this.

Here is another group of guys we like visiting with, and listening to.  The RKSB aka Royal Kunia Street Band, is a spin-off band from Greenwood.  Who is Greenwood?  Check out this interview with Robin Kimura by Roger Bong of Aloha Got Soul: http://alohagotsoul.com/2011/08/31/robin-kimura-interview-part-3/  It was great to see friends of the band sit in through out the night.  So much talent in one place.

On this night at Ige's, Aiea & Pearl City HS Alumnae was in the house. There was alot of purple attire on the  dance floor. These folks pretty much adopted this 19th Puka as their weekend hangout.  They and many other friends and guests circled the entire restaurant in a dance train.  A first and last for us to see this ever happen.  So much joy and laughter.  We're so happy to have captured these golden moments for you. Go check them out below.






Mahalo ROYAL KUNIA STREET BAND! Till next time...Don't Stop The Music!


ROYAL KUNIA STREET BAND:
Robin Kimura - bass guitar, band leader
Craig Kanekoa - lead vocal, guitar, ukulele
Chet Okayama - lead vocal, lead guitar
Dwanye Higa - keyboards
Randy Hoo - saxaphone, flute, percussion
Mark Silva - trumpet
Rod Esteban - drums

*Steve Matsumoto - trumpet
*Curtis Takahama - vocals
*Garry Moore - vocals

* Guest Artist

Band Contact:   rksb@hawaii.rr.com

Woodrose and King Pins Live at Dot's in Wahiawa (3-28-2014)

Tonight we decided to venture a little closer to home with a visit to Dot's in Wahiawa. One stop, Two bands. We like that! We've seen both of these bands before so it was no surprise that we would enjoy ourselves as usual.  The line dancers were in full force for their weekly fix.  We also saw many friends & family members that we haven't seen in a while. Thanks to Harvey, some of the ladies scored some red & black beads, a KP t-shirt or a KP g-string.  lol!  Yep, it was a fun night for sure!.  

WOODROSE opened the night with a genre variety of dance/oldies/rock/contemporary; and KING PINS wrapped it up some classic Rock N Roll.  What a complete evening!  Check out these capture Golden Moments below:

WOODROSE!





WOODROSE Band Members: Leader/Drummer/vocals - Aaron Mirafuentes, Keyboard/vocals - Dave Johnstone, Bass Guitar/vocals - Zachary Kaaihue & Matthew Labajo, Lead guitar/vocals - Anthony Unciano, Vocals/Percussion - Nadine Marchan-Wheeler, Vocals/Percussion - Clarice Benauro.

The Woodrose Band has been together for over 2 decades. They have performed at various night clubs on Oahu and at private parties , weddings and banquets. For more information please contact Aaron Mirafuentes at fouras@hawaii.rr.com or 808-676-5961 or 808-927-9083.


KING PINS!





KING PINS Band Members: Harvey Yamauchi - guitar, vocals, band leader. Randall Rosenberg - bass, vocals. Lance Tigner - guitar, vocals. Harvey Yoshioka - keyboards. Brad Choi - drums.

Contact Harvey at daddyrage@hotmail.com or 386-7243; or Randall at RandallR@hawaii.rr.com or 255-8579.

Mahalo Woodrose! Mahalo King Pins! Till next time...Don't Stop The Music!

Ward's Rafters Concert 2 at the Crossroads at Hawaiian Brians (12/28/2013)

This was our first time to Hawaiian Brians since the ownership renovated the building. The billards and arcade are now in a separate section. The main event room, The Crossroads, sports a similar dance floor like the old showroom but bigger, a bigger stage and more seating. Same great sound and lighting system! There is a smaller room which they call The Studio near the entry for small events. Both rooms offer easy ingress/egress for musicians.

Tonight's Back2Back Extravaganza event is the Ward's Rafters Concert II, a fundraiser for Jackie Ward, owner of Ward's Rafters, a private residence in Kaimuki. This event was organized by Chad Bergantz of The Ultimate Fundraiser. Quite an impressive line up of local musicians and bands, at a great price. We didn't get to see everyone as the concerts ran simultaneously in both rooms.

However, these are the bands we did get to see. We were not disappointed. In fact some of the performances kept us on the edge of seats wanting more.




Unable to view the slide show....click on this LINK. You will also be able to "Like" or "Share" your favorite pictures to Facebook.

Adela Chu & Espiritu Libre -, A salsa and Brazilian jazz band; featuring flute player Saskia, singers Cheryl Bartlett and Bruce Hale, bass player Ernie Proventeur; and Chu's husband, Kim Duffett, on congas. Chu dances and plays keyboards. The group started 15 years ago as the Electric Malasadas, playing at Anna Bannana's.




Jerome James and Activ8 Electro Jazz - Jerome James, a skilled percussionist that invented Electrojazzation. Original new age and sometimes hypnotic music. They even had a free-form dancer. http://www.jeromejamesjrums.com/activ8-electro-jazz.html




The PBS Little Big Band - Big Band Music from the 40s and beyond. Swing, jazz, latin and rock. Led by trumpeteers and brothers, Phil and Bob Scellato, This popular big band has been performing around Honolulu since 2004. .




Stephen Inglis & Piranha Brothers - Stephen Inglis - folk/slack key/singer/songwriter. He is recognized as one the most diverse musical artists in Hawaii today. His composition Redwood Slack Key was featured on the Grammy nominated and Na Hoku Hanohano wining album Hawaiian Slack Key Kings V2. http://stepheninglis.com/.  The Piranha Brothers Band was formed in 1977 by Michael Piranha, Tom Piranha, Jesse Abarca and Phil Miller. http://www.reverbnation.com/piranhabrothersband. We absolutely loved their rendition of Hotel Honolulu (same melody of Hotel California).




Soul Pilot - Soul Pilot provides Soulful R & B, Funk, Blues, Rock, & Jazz. Rachel Gonzales, Vocals; Gil Farias, Bass; Peter Factora, Drums; John Lundgren, Saxophones; and Tony Trevias, Keyboards/vocals.




Taimane - A musician and songwriter. She picked up her lst ukulele at age 5, discovered by legendary Don Ho, and performed all over the world. She covers a wide range of genres - classical to classic rock to flamenco. http://www.taimane.com/main/




The Saloon Pilots- Progressive bluegrass music are Lesley Kline, fiddle & vocals; Kilin Reece, guitar & vocals; Paul Sato, Banjo & Vocals; Mark Ransom, bass & vocals, and Russ Lundgren, percussions (to include a Fedex box).





Trailer Park Romeos - Dedicated to entertaining audiences that love Chicago and Delta Blues. Playing the Blues the way Muddy, Wolf and Little Walter created it to be played are Richard Smith, Ian Chames, Sean Harrison, Corey Funai, Paul Gomes Jr., and Micheal Sommers




Best wishes to Jackie Ward and her family. Mahalo to TUF, all the musicians and bands that shared their music. Till next time....Don't Stop The Music!

Magic Mushroom Reunion Party III at the Manoa Grand Ballroom (11-29-2013)

Once is good, Two is better, Three is a charm! Dennis & Joy Matsukawa did it again! Another successful MAGIC MUSHROOM REUNION PARTY (MMRP) at the Manoa Grand Ballroom in Moiliili.  Radio celebrity host BART DESILVA of 107.9 Kool Gold kicked off evening with AUDISSEY & FRIENDS on stage first, and their UH horn section.  Also joining them were new vocalists Lester Higa and Dean Guzman.  Some of the songs that got the dancers pumped up were: One Fine Morning, Pretty Lady, Vehicle, Make Me Smile, September, Brick House, Dance To The Music, and Together.

Next on stage, POWER POINT JR.  This was their first MMRP.  The Jr. was added as only some of the original members were able to make it.  We were not disappointed.  Talented friends help complete the band and kept the dance floor busy with songs like Brick House, Skin Tight, Disco Inferno, Play That Funky Music, No Parking, The Bird, and an Earth Wind & Fire Medley.  These men were later joined by Joy Waikaloa and a couple of the band member wives (Jason & Bryan's) doing a song called 'Bad Girls' by Donna Summer.  Wait! Good Guys? Bad Girls? LOL! Obviously they were having a blast.

Closing the evening was WHITE LIGHT making their 3rd MMRP appearance.  We loved Arex's 'Love Potion Number 9' by The Clovers; and Don's 'Sweet Caroline'. by Neil Diamond.  Joy sang 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You'' by one of Sandy's favorite female artists Gloria Estefan.  The dancers kept busy with songs like Smooth, Mony Mony, Long Train Running, and My Old School.  The last song once again was 'We Are Family'.  How fitting for this group of rockers, line dancers and baby boomers!






AUDISSEY & FRIENDS:
Dennis Matsukawa - guitar, vocals
Brad Nakanishi - keyboards, vocals
Lester Higa - vocals
Dean Guzman - vocals
Galen Onouye - bass guitar
David Yamada - drums
Isaac Nishimura - sax
Chris Otsuka - sax
Gavin Min - trumpter
Darrem Harada - trombone





POWER POINT,JR.
* Bryan Aoyagi -guitar, vocals
* Jason Nagashima - keys, vocals
Dayton Arima - bass
Ken Field - drums
Paul Stanley - sax
Eldred Ahlo - trumpet

* Original Power Point Member





WHITE LIGHT:
Joy Waikoloa - vocals
Tommy Kamisato - trumpet, vocals
Arex Ikehara - bass guitar, vocals
Don Tsuha - trumpet, vocals
Sherman Kang - sax
Gerald Tomosawa - trumpet, drums
Layne Maeoka - drums
Daniel Kurose - guitar
George Mosier - guitar
Larry Isobe - key boards
Howard Nataka - vocals


We're looking forward to Magic Mushroom Reunion Party IV on May 17, 2014 at the Manoa Grand Ballroom.  Call Dennis Matsukawa to get your tickets and reserve your tables early.  This is gonna be another sold out event.

Mahalo to all for a great evening down memory lane.  Till next time...Don't Stop The Music!