Do It: Young the Giant, Jim Brickman, Makua Rothman, Noel Okimoto
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
>> Young the Giant taking giant steps in rock
Alt rock/indie band Young the Giant, known for its highly personalized commentary and eclectic style, comes to The Republik for two concerts this weekend.
All of the band members — frontman Sameer Gadhia, guitarist Eric Cannata, bassist Payam Doostzadeh, drummer Francois Comtois, and guitarist Jacob Tilley, are immigrants or children of immigrants. Gadhia grew up listening to the Indian music favored by his parents before turning to pop and rock music.
Their sensibility was reflected in their third album, 2016’s “Home of the Strange,” which hit No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It featured the single “Amerika,” based on an unfinished novel by Franz Kafka about an immigrant’s experiences in America.
The band turned even further inward with its fourth and latest album, “Mirror Master” (2018), which featured the song “Glory.” With lyrics like “I am a sinner of a broken church/ I am a saint drunk on the carpet,” Gadhia said it had “probably one of the most self-effacing, most vulnerable lyrics that I wrote for the record.”
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The Southern California-based group started out as a garage band comprised of high school friends.
YOUNG THE GIANT
>> Where: The Republik
>> When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
>> Cost: $45-$50
>> Info: 941-7469, jointherepublik.com
SATURDAY
>> Brickman invites fans to celebrate 25 years of music
Pianist Jim Brickman, who brings “Jim Brickman 25th Anniversary — The Greatest Hits” to the Blaisdell Concert Hall on Saturday, has attracted many fans on the strength of his instrumentalism. In fact, his first album, released in 1994 by Windham Hill Records, was titled “No Words.”
But in his quarter-century of performing, he’s also continued to present himself challenges. The latest is an album that he sings on, for every track, recapping all of his greatest hits.
“It’s really the first time that I’ve ever done an all-vocal album,” he said. “It’s something that has taken me a long time to consider doing, but I felt like it was the right time.”
Brickman also presents an annual gathering for his “uber fans” — this year it’s the “Brickman Bash Las Vegas,” Feb. 13 to 16.
One of his newest perks for fans is Jim’s Jukebox — a free-membership club providing a free download of a Brickman composition each month. This month’s song is titled “Along the Shore.”
“Sometimes I’ll play something in concert people want to hear, but it’s not available on an album,” he said. “Everybody gets their music in a different way, so it’s just another way of saying ‘Thank you.’”
For more information on Jim’s Jukebox and the “Brickman Bash Las Vegas,” visit jimbrickman.com.
– John Berger, Star-Advertiser
“Jim Brickman’s 25th Anniversary: The Greatest Hits”
>> Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
>> When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
>> Cost: $39-$59
>> Info: 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com
SUNDAY
>> Makua Rothman surfs back into music
Though they were called the Beach Boys, not too many of their songs are actually about the beach or the ocean. And they didn’t surf.
In contrast, musician Makua Rothman is a champion surfer and singer/songwriter, who’s made life on the water his muse.
Rothman, whose surfing accomplishments include the 2003 Billabong XXL Award for riding a 66-foot wave at Jaws in Maui and the very first Big Wave World Championship in 2015, produced the album “Sound Wave” in 2013. With upbeat tunes like “Underneath the Halo,” and “Beautiful Life,” the album hit No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Charts.
Though he’s performed and worked with other musicians since then, he hasn’t produced anything new — until now.
Rothman recently released a new song “Cry Me on Ocean,” about facing obstacles in life and seeing them through. He’s working on some other new material with the expectation of a new album to be out soon.
Rothman will perform at the Queen Kapi‘olani Hotel’s Deck bar and grill on Sunday as part of the venue’s “Sunset Sessions” concert series, along with Thompson Enos of local reggae band Typical Hawaiians.
MAKUA ROTHMAN
With Thompson Enos
>> Where: Deck, 3rd floor at Queen Kapi‘olani Hotel, 150 Kapahulu Ave.
>> When: 4 p.m. Sunday
>> Cost: No cover
>> Register: bit.ly/37Q96GZ
WEDNESDAY
>> Okimoto brings good vibes to jazz ensemble
Percussionist Noel Okimoto has retired from the Royal Hawaiian Band after 31 years helming the percussion section, but he’s not finished with music.
He’s switching things up on Wednesday: While Okimoto is so well known for the accuracy of his drumming that he was known to “make the metronome disappear,” he’s exchanged his drumsticks for mallets and his kit for a vibraphone to play with the Honolulu Jazz Quartet at the waterfront Gordon Biersch stage.
“Any chance I get to play that instrument, I relish that,” Okimoto told the Star-Advertiser in November. “I got into the vibraphone a long time ago, and in the last 10 years or so I’ve become more committed to it and wanting to play, so it’s a great opportunity for me.”
Okimoto, a two-time Na Hokuhanohano Award winner, will also celebrate his retirement from the Royal Hawaiian Band and transition to the HJQ at Wednesday’s show. The Honolulu Jazz Quartet, formed in 2001 and led by bassist John Kolivas, includes keyboard player Dan Del Negro and saxophonist Tim Tsukiyama, who have played with Kolivas from the beginning. Guests this night are drummer Ian Wacksman and guitarist Robert Shinoda.
HAWAII JAZZ QUARTET CELEBRATES NOEL OKIMOTO’S RETIREMENT
>> Where: Gordon Biersch, Aloha Tower
>> When: 6:30 p.m.
>> Cost: No cover
