"Margaritaville" may have had to move inside, but Sunday’s "Kokua for the Philippines" fundraiser at the Hilton Hawaiian Village still managed to raise more than $1.7 million for victims of Typhoon Haiyan despite a last-minute change of venue.
The charitable concert event, which included appearances by frequent Hawaii visitor Jimmy Buffett, Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro and other performers, was to have been presented as an outdoor concert at the hotel’s Great Lawn, with live broadcast via TV, radio and the Internet.
However, heavy rainfall prompted organizers to scuttle the outdoor performances and television broadcast. Instead, performers moved inside the hotel’s Lagoon Tower, where they shared a room with volunteers who were manning phone lines to accept donations, and broadcast the event on radio and online.
Event spokesman David Sayre said organizers decided just an hour before the scheduled noon start to move the event inside. The rescheduled concert took place from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Organizers are encouraging ticket holders to make their ticket purchase a donation but will provide refunds to those who request them.
Most of the scheduled performers dropped out, but many others stayed on. Joining Buffett, Shimabukuro and Fleetwood were Henry Kapono, Kristian Lei, Amy Hanaiali‘i Gilliom, Brother Noland, Aidan James, Clifford Naeole, Kealoha, Kalei Gamiao, EMKE, AJ Rafael and Marco Lopez.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell helped with the phone bank along with cast and crew from the CBS series "Hawaii Five-0," including Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, Chi McBride, Dennis Chun, All Harrington and Teilor Grubbs.
Plans called for marine life artist Wyland to paint an original canvas, which would then be auctioned at the event. With Fleetwood contributing a few brush strokes, Wyland completed the painting while the artists performed. It will be auctioned at a later date, with all proceeds going toward Haiyan relief.
The event was staged by Clear Channel Media + Entertainment Hawaii and Oceanic Time Warner Cable. Donations are still being accepted at www.kokuaforthephilippines.com.
