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Lighter shade of EDM rises from Ashes tour
Nick Miller, known by his stage name Illenium, brings his mystical brand of electronic dance music to The Republik this weekend.
The up-and-coming DJ and music producer, now based in Denver, started getting notice with his first two EPs (“Illenium” and “Risen”), which led to his full-length album release last year, “Ashes.” It reached No. 6 on the Billboard dance charts.
“It’s a story of rebirth,” he told Billboard.com. “About losing something and being down, and being able to find hope and light in tough places.” It refers in part to his origins in music, when he was working as a telephone operator at a hotel and worked on music between calls.
Illenium has been praised for bringing a lighter, melodic touch to the often bass-heavy EDM sound. All of the 10 tracks on “Ashes” feature vocals, which Miller likes because “it’s the one instrument I can’t manipulate or do anything with. It adds an element that everyone can relate to.”
>> Where: The Republik, 1349 Kapiolani Blvd. When: 9 p.m. Saturday. Cost: $25. Info: seetickets.us or 941-7469.
Kiss the old goodbye with monkey business from local ensemble
With the Year of the Monkey on its way out, it seems appropriate to bid farewell to the mischievous character with “Exit Monkey,” a new ensemble show by local dance theater company Monkey Waterfall.
“It’s inspired by the theme that exiting is a new beginning,” said Monkey Waterfall co-founder and artistic director Yukie Shiroma. Although that might seem like a reference to the 2016 election, the idea actually came from mass immigration in Europe last summer, Shiroma said. Having the performance the day after the presidential inauguration is more coincidence than anything, but Shiroma sees the show as representing “a new beginning on many, many levels.”
The show features a blend of dance, cabaret and music. Also performing is guest artist Thom Fountain. The Los Angeles-based puppeteer created characters like Salem the talking cat in the television series “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,” the evil Chucky doll in the “Child’s Play III” slasher film and the wormlike Neeble in the “Men in Black” films.
Local performance artists Betsy Fisher, Mark Branner, Amy Schiffner, Kati Kuroda, Malia Yamamoto, Mareva Minerbi, Corbett Stern, Terry Slaughter, Peiling Kao, Gretchen Jude and Ben Moffat join in the fun. Esther Izuo will be the “main monkey” of the show.
While the message might be serious, expect a lighthearted touch, such as monkeys playing mahjong throughout the show. Also certain to make an appearance is the witchlike Moira, pictured, a character that Shiroma called “the company muse. … She is the ‘weaver’ of the narrative. Sometimes she’s an observer, but her presence is there as the inspiration for the story.”
>> Where: Kaka‘ako Agora, 441 Cooke St. When: 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Cost: $10. Info: monkeywaterfall.org.
Jamie Adkins’ vaudevillian show promises to amuse and amaze
Jamie Adkins rambles, stumbles and flops into the Windward side on Sunday, bringing laughs, fun and amazement from his Circus Incognitus to the Paliku Theatre stage.
Adkins, a former member of Cirque du Soleil and Montreal-based Cirque Eloize, is an entertainer in the traditional vaudevillian mold, skipping from clowning, juggling, tightrope walking and other amusing antics at the drop of his bowlerhat.
He draws “laughter by doing easy tasks the hard way. He can’t put on his trousers one leg at a time,” wrote The New York Times, adding that “although Mr. Adkins doesn’t bill himself as a magician, he offers magical moments.”
Adkins has brought his family-friendly show to 22 countries, opening his performance simply by bringing a box on stage and unpacking it to unleash mayhem reminiscent of a Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton movie. An audience participation bit —throwing fruit at him — might fulfill every child’s dream. Watch for his impressive reaction.
>> Where: Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College. When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Cost: $10-$25. Info: bit.ly/UHPresentsCircus or 956-8246.
Meet the artisans and buy something cool at artsfest
Need something to complement that artwork you got for Christmas? Or a decoration for the lanai? Check out the Pacific Island Arts Festival, the first of five sales in Waikiki this year by the Handcrafters and Artisans Alliance.
Nancy Calhoun, executive director of the alliance, said the sale not only features “some really, really neat art,” it provides patrons the chance to meet the artisans up close and personal.
“They have to be there personally to sell their artwork,” she said. “You couldn’t bring something that your cousin Joe made and wants to sell at our event. Cousin Joe needs to be there, and he has to make everything he wants to sell. To me that’s the fun part.”
Items for sale will include clothing, paintings, sculpture, jewelry, photography and a variety of other arts and crafts. Exhibited artists like watercolorist Patrice Federspiel and painter “Poor Lydia” Matias, who is considered “the Grandma Moses of Hawaii,”will be displaying their works, Calhoun said.
Visitors can enjoy hula both mornings, and there will be lion dancing on Sunday morning to ring in Chinese New Year.
Where: Kapiolani Park. When: 9 a.m.-4 p.m Saturday and Sunday. Cost: Admission free. Info: icb-web.net/haa.
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