2011 Festival Schedule4th Annual Hallowbaloo - A Recipe fo’ Sizzle:
16,000+ Costumed Crazies + Hawaii’s Largest Live Music Showcase + the Honolulu Arts District !!
The Hallowbaloo Music + Arts Festival presents a kaleidoscope of stimulation as diverse as the 20+ clubs, restaurants, galleries and boutiques that comprise its host neighborhood, the Honolulu Arts District. Entering its fourth year, the festival has already become one of the most anticipated and celebrated events in Hawaii with over 16,000 residents and visitors participating in last year’s festivities. ..and that’s just the beginning.
At the heart of Hallowbaloo lies an incredibly propulsive jet fuel that burns hotter than anything NASA ever created: Hawaii Halloween passion. For as long as most can remember, Hawaii has celebrated Halloween with as much or more fervor than anywhere in the world, and now, Hawaii residents direct their fantasies, dastardly digressions and zany illusions at Hallowbaloo. And when their creative escapades come to fruition in the form of other-worldly costumes, and they walk onto the festival grounds, they’re greeted by the most popular and alluring entertainment district in all of Hawaii, the Honolulu Arts District. The neighborhood has nearly single-handedly turned Hawaii cosmopolitan culture into something as alluring as Hawaii’s most pristine beaches. And during Hallowbaloo, the forward-thinking merchants who make it all happen bond together and roll-out the red carpet like no other night of the year. Case in Point: on the night of the Hallowbaloo street festival (Saturday, Oct. 29th), you can purchase one Hallowbaloo wristband and enjoy a myriad of live entertainment at eight different eclectic clubs. And the wristband will cost you just about the same as it would to go into one club on a busy evening any other night of the year - $10 when purchased in advance or onsite before 7:30pm; $15 when purchased after 7:30pm.
There are also other treats that can be found on no other night – such as six stages scattered about the district, showcasing musical and dance performances that are 100% free to the public. Add it all together, and you have the largest live music showcase in Hawaii with more than 40 bands, DJ's and theatrical groups – including sizzling national and local talent.
As usual, Hallowbaloo’s 2011 line-up provides a mood to fit everyone’s fancy starting with the spellbinding, ambient sounds of Warpaint who will headline Hallowbaloo’s kick-off concert on Friday, Oct. 28th at The Waterfront at Aloha Tower Marketplace. This four-piece, all women indie rock band from L.A. landed on the ‘star rising watch list’ of just about every tastemaker and major music media outlet at the end of 2010 with the release of their album, ‘The Fool’. Their star has ascended even faster than expected thanks to their tremendous chops as live performers and a relentless tour schedule that will see them play over 100 shows in 2011. Whether performing on giant stages at mega-festivals like Coachella, Glastonbury and Primavera (the latter being two of Europe’s largest festivals) or intimate clubs, Warpaint has delivered in a Big way - receiving gushing reviews from national journalists, bloggers and twitter commandos alike. With their destiny as mega-stars clear and their having never before performed in Hawaii, the band is perfectly suited to ignite Hallowbaloo 2011.
Following Warpaint’s performance, DJ/beat-maker Paper Diamond (Alex Botwin, formerly known as Alex Beats) will take over the reins of Hallowbaloo’s kick-off concert. Botwin’s career is on a similar trajectory as Warpaint’s. Pretty Lights, arguably the most popular electronic artist in America at the moment, recently selected Botwin to be Pretty Lights touring partner and release music under the Pretty Lights Music label. Botwin has also delivered stand-out performances at many of this summer’s most popular electronic festivals (Electric Forest, Wakarusa, Camp Bisco, etc.) backing up his being selected by Relix magazine as a must-see emerging artist. At Hallowbaloo, expect Paper Diamond to show off his extensive range likely kicking things off with a celestial vibe, a la his kick-off concert predecessor Warpaint, before morphing his signature multi-layered approach into a more direct attack on your rhythmic soul.
On Saturday, October 29th, Hallowbaloo’s musical stylings shift gears with Man Man (Philadelphia, PA), New Mastersounds (Leeds, UK) and Gaudi (Italy) all performing at Hallowbaloo’s free street festival on Nu‘uanu Ave. When Man Man climbs aboard one of Hallowbaloo's street festival stages expect the unexpected. Frontman Honus Honus and fellow band members, Pow Pow, Critter Crat and Chang Wang, combine melody, theater and unfettered craziness to lead audiences on wild rides to chaotic exultation. Add Hallowbaloo revelry to that equation, and you have a show that is not to be missed.
Prior to Man Man, New Mastersounds will endeavor to tingle your soul with the greatest breakbeat funk you’ve ever heard. Don’t be surprised if they succeed at turning their set into a hysteria-driven dance fest as the band has been blowing away funk aficionados with their flawless grooves since the dawn of the 21st Century.
And while New Mastersounds and Man Man light up a stage on one side of the street festival, Gaudi, an Italian instrumentalist, producer and DJ, will be spinning out Hallowbaloo fans at another corner of the celebration with his mix of global beats ranging from the hypnotic melodies of international Qawwali icon, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, to the timeless rhythms of Bob Marley. In addition to having the honor of being asked to remix the original recordings of Khan and Marley by both respective families, Gaudi has, through his more than 25 year career, also earned major accolades as a Live performer landing him regular shows at Glastonbury and other major festivals, as well as a historic concert at The Coliseum in Rome. On September 14, 2004, he and Frenchman Michel Moglia (inventor of the Fire Organ) performed their original composition, Elemental, at the foot of The Coliseum and attracted and mesmerized a crowd of 350,000!
Kickback and peruse this website’s details about the 40+ performances by bands, DJ’s and theatrical groups at Hallowbaloo 2011. There’s everything from a Zombie Alley to original Hallowbaloo-themed shorts created by local filmmakers to a sunset serenade at Kaimana Beach. You can almost taste the euphoria the artists and shows are bound to elicit, and for us, that taste cannot become a reality a moment too soon !!
