FRIDAY-SUNDAY
Car show features new rides, hot classics
Check out the latest in automotive innovation and style at this weekend’s First Hawaiian International Auto Show at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.
More than 350 vehicles, from cars, crossovers, trucks, hybrids and electrics to SUVs, luxury cars and classic antiques, will be on display. If you’re in the market for a car now, it will be a good place to do some research without pressure.
If you’re not in immediate need, but want to see what’s around the corner, the show will have several pre-production and 2016-model-year vehicles, including the Toyota Mirai, powered by a fuel cell, and Chevrolet’s Camaro and Colorado, which were named car and truck of the year by Motor Trend. The 2016 Toyota Prius, Hyundai Tucson and Jaguar F-Pace will also be on hand to ogle.
Just want to drool over the luxury sports cars? Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Bentley will be there. Local car clubs will roll out their best, as well, from Corvettes and Mustangs to souped-up Volkswagens.
Where: Hawai‘i Convention Center
When: Noon-10 p.m. today, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $7-$10 ($2 discount with a receipt from an Ala Moana Center merchant)
Info: AutoShowHawaii.com
Singer Hilary Kole pays tribute to Judy Garland with the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. today, Blaisdell Concert Hall. $27-$79. ticketmaster.com or 866-448-7849
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
Midtown Men give rock songs classic style
Take a walk down memory lane with the Midtown Men, a quartet that’s taken a bit of New Jersey’s classic rock ’n’ roll sound and spread it around the world.
Christian Hoff, Michael Longoria, Daniel Reichard and J. Robert Spencer starred in the Broadway production of “Jersey Boys,” which won four Tonys, including best musical and best featured actor for Hoff’s portrayal of the Four Seasons’ Tommy DeVito. They formed their own group in 2009 after being invited to perform at private events, including Katie Couric’s 50th-birthday party.
After some initial legal entanglements with the Broadway production — they were then calling themselves the Boys in Concert, causing concern about whether they were connected to the show — they renamed themselves the Midtown Men and expanded their repertoire beyond Four Seasons hits to include tunes from the Beatles, the Rascals, the Mamas and the Papas and other ’60s bands.
It’s all presented in slick, smooth vocals, with the singers suited up in “Mad Men”-style attire.
“The Midtown Men sound as crisp as their Rat Pack-inspired suits,” wrote Ira Kantor in the New York Daily News.
Where: Hawaii Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 4 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $37-$97
Info: hawaiitheatre.com or 528-0506
WEDNESDAY
Singer-songwriter Allen Stone brings his soulful, sweet sound to The Republik
The self-described “hippie with soul” has turned out three albums that feature his blend of folk rock and R&B, with his second album, 2011’s “Allen Stone,” reaching No. 4 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. The album propelled him to nationwide tours and appearances on late-night talk shows, and generated comparisons to Stevie Wonder, one of his main influences, and to Marvin Gaye. So soulful is his sound that many listeners have been surprised to learn that he is white.
Stone’s most recent album, last year’s “Radius,” was described in The New York Times as featuring “grainy, unvarnished singing, lyrics that promise honest sentiments, grooves built with physical instruments and a gospel-rooted determination to uplift,” a reference perhaps to Stone’s musical upbringing, singing in his parents’ church in eastern Washington state. Stone himself has said the music came after examining “some very dark and negative moments in my life,” and that he and producer Magnus Tingsek were trying “to create something that’s the complete antithesis of what you’d expect from pop music.”
Local singer-songwriter Tim Rose, who brings a surfer’s touch to his romantic tunes, opens.
Where: The Republik, 1349 Kapiolani Blvd.
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
Cost: $27.50-$32..50
Info: flavorus.com or 855-235-2867
THURSDAY
Rapper gets his inspiration from the kitchen
Hip-hop artist Action Bronson has been cooking up a storm lately. Or maybe that should read: Chef Action Bronson has been rappin’ some knuckles.
Bronson, the subject of a story in the Atlantic titled “Where James Beard Meets Rap,” mixes a profane, bare-fisted take on popular culture with poetic punditry, producing highfalutin hip-hop (and we do mean “high” here) with smackdown attitude.
His real name is Ariyan Arslani; he’s the son of an Albanian Muslim father and a Jewish-American mom. Bronson grew up in New York, cooking in his family’s restaurant and rapping as a hobby. After an injury sidelined him five years ago, he focused on music, turning out a series of viral hits like “Well Done,” “Dr. Lecter” and “Bon Appetit … Bitch!” (Notice the dining theme.) He now hosts his own globe-trotting food show, irreverently called “F—-, That’s Delicious.”
A substantial presence on stage — he weighs about 300 pounds and has a bushy beard and body tattoos — Bronson’s been called “one of the most hilarious and creative writers in rap” by online magazine Pitchfork.
He’s already acquired a taste for the islands. During a visit here two years ago to watch the North Shore surfing competitions, he discovered the poke at the Kahuku Superette, calling it “the best flavor in the history of life.”
Where: The Republik, 1349 Kapiolani Blvd.
When: 9 p.m. Thursday
Cost: $35
Info: flavorus.com or 855-235-2867. All ages accompanied by an adult.
