Some Memories of the IZ Concert
October 19, 1996
Marin Civic Center
San Rafael, CA

Excerpts from A Review by Robin Hebert

IZ KICKS ELEMU IN THE BAY AREA!

October 19, 1996 Marin Civic Center

Dateline: October 20, 1996, Cogitations and memoirs from West Contra Costa County, California

Before I say anything specific about the wonderful show put on by Bruddah Iz and a showcase lineup of Bay Area Hawaiian musicians this past Saturday, I must say this:

Bambucha mahalos to PICA (aka the Pacific Islanders’ Cultural Association) for bringing Iz to us – fo’ real kine - and putting all those naysayers to shame. As Iz said when the curtains opened up, "To those who said I wasn’t coming: I’m here!" (And a gleeful, little voice in the back of my mind said, "Whop yowah jaws!")

Disclaimer: I’m leaving out the jokes and the raffle interludes. You had to be there ...

". . . To round out the kind of Island-style entertainment available in the Bay Area, the last act before Iz was the fun favorite, Ka Ehu Kai. And they are: Pat Apiag (ukulele, vocals), Nate Defiesta (bass, vocals), Rick Delgado (percussion, vocals), Tennyson Lum (ukulele, lead vocals) and Aldon Sanders (guitar, lead vocals). These guys are from the East Bay and South Bay vicinities. I’ve seen this group before, but not in the kind of venue provided by the Marin Civic Center. And while I don’t believe Frank Lloyd Wright would have conceived of Ka Ehu Kai in his building, he probably would have laughed his elemu off, too. The audience knew something was up when, along with their instruments, a huge beach ball, a couple of smaller blow-up balls, a big, plastic toy dump truck, a chair, a beach umbrella and boom box were placed strategically on the stage.

Ka Ehu Kai started innocently enough with the old-time hula favorite, "Papalina Lahilahi," which was followed by a hilarious medley of "The Theme from the Beverly Hillbillies" and "Act Naturally." I can’t remember exactly when they started punting the beach balls into the audience, but that activity kept folks involved for quite awhile. It was amazing how the guys took us from one extreme to the other, since the next song they performed was an updated version of the chant (e kala mai, again) "`Ano `ai". Three kaikamahine danced this number, and I believe they were all `ohana (daughter, nieces li’dat). Tennyson played the hano (nose flute), and Pat provided the necessary pa`i on the ipu heke. It was a *very* nice performance which I enjoyed immensely (and I got a chance to tell the girls that after the show, too). Then we were led to the beach for a little show-and-laugh Ka Ehu Kai-style: while the rest of the guys sang "Under the Boardwalk/Margaritaville", Pat strutted his quite formidable stuff (he’s a multiple X shirt-size) and acted out his version of the songs (so that’s what the boom box, chair, umbrella and binoculars were for!). This was followed by an instrumental version (with Tennyson’s quick pickin’ on the uke) of Iz’s "Maui Hawaiian Suppa Man". Pat stripped down to his "HS" shirt, and gave us his impression of , well, Suppa Man. I thought he did a great job of lifting that big, heavy, plastic toy dump truck over his head, though it looked like a close thing for a second. That was supposed to be the end of their set, but the audience hana hou’d them, and they did a jumping version of "Reggae People" before clearing the stage for Iz. . . ."