We went to see the Slack Key Guitar concert again … this is a very enjoyable concert series that we’ve been attending for a number of years.

This concert featured ‘Uncle’ Richard Hoopii, who is a a leo kiekie (falsetto) singer.

The concert was quite enjoyable … it was held at the Napili Kai resort. George Kahumoka (who’s won a few Grammys for Hawaiian music) is the host and started out with some traditional songs.   There was a television crew from a show based in Sweden recording the concert. It was kind of fun watching George get a bit flustered when the camera man came up on stage to get some tight shots of him playing.

After a little bit he introduced his guest artist, Richard Hoopii.   He came on stage and pretty much took over.   He played and sang a number of nice songs, but I’ve decided that I’m not a big fan of the falsetto singing style.   Richard’s wife came up on stage and did a very nice hula dance for one of the songs.

After the intermission, George invited the ‘next generation’ of slack key guitar players on stage … Sterling Seaton and one of George’s students (who’s name I didn’t get), to play along with Richard and himself.   It was clear they were having a good time and so was the audience.

I only have one gripe about the concert … it’s a fairly long distance away from Kihei … so it’s a long drive.   Getting there isn’t a problem, but driving back at 10pm, isn’t a lot of fun.

Other than that, it’s quite a worth the effort.