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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, June 4, 2004

THE NIGHT STUFF
Caribbean-style party set to erupt at Volcanoes

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

In just over three years, promoter/DJ Jonathan Mack's Angel Magik has turned into one of the largest after-hours Caribbean-themed parties in San Francisco. He'd like to work the same kind of magic in Honolulu.

Former Black Uhuru front man Don Carlos brings his special vibe to Thursday's Angel Magik event at Volcanoes Nightclub, where imported and local performers will blend reggae, dancehall, soca (a soul/calypso hybrid) and hip-hop. Hawai'i's own Natural Vibrations and Red Degree will perform.

Thursday's second "808 Edition" of Angel Magik at Volcanoes Nightclub aims to do just that with Mack's successful Bay Area formula — blending live imported and local performers with reggae, dancehall, soca (an up-tempo soul/calypso hybrid) and hip-hop turntablists for a full evening of entertainment. Slated for live performances are former Black Uhuru frontman Don Carlos, Sean Paul cohort Fahrenheit and Hawai'i's own Natural Vibrations and Red Degree. Keeping the sonics varied on the turntables and mikes will be New York-based mixtape master DJ Vlad, MC Wicked YB and DJ Jah-Kno aka Mack himself.

"People might say the party is scattered with different things, but that's how a Caribbean party is," said the Trinidad-raised Mack. "What I'm bringing to Hawai'i is what I still miss about home. I just want to open people's eyes to something different."

Mack had been organizing parties in high school, but got serious about it after relocating to the Bay Area in 1999 to attend the University of California-Berkeley on a rugby scholarship. Bored and more than a bit homesick, Mack began putting together small campus-based parties that boasted a strong Caribbean influence.

Angel Magik at Berkeley's Shattuck Down Low Lounge grew out of one of those small parties into what is now a monthly with remarkable endurance and a loyal following. Magik's crowd these days is diverse — African, Asian, Latin and Caucasian — with a soundtrack less reliant on hip-hop than Caribbean reggae, dancehall and soca.

"It's one of the most diverse parties in the Bay Area with one of the nicest crowds," said Mack. "Everybody is just there to party and dance."

Finding Hawai'i's island culture reminiscent of Trinidad's on a spring break visit in 2000, Mack explored the club scene on a return trip last year and decided that there was an audience for an Angel Magik party here.

"All the parties that played hip-hop would play three or four dancehall songs. Every time they played dancehall, people would go on the floor and dance," said Mack. "And I always wondered why they didn't continue playing dancehall."

His first O'ahu Angel Magik party at Don Ho's Island Grill in April with Los Angeles-based DJ Icewater, Japanese hip-hop stars Shing02 and A-1, and Red Degree and Ooklah The Moc attracted a packed house. Now living in Honolulu with his girlfriend — a Hawai'i-born University of Hawai'i-Manoa graduate student he met while attending UC Berkeley — Mack returns to San Francisco for a week each month to spin and tend to his original Angel Magik party.

Thursday's local edition of Angel Magik runs from 9 p.m to 4 a.m. Entry is $21 ($1 of each cover goes to Aloha United Way). More information at www.jonathanmack.com.


Saturday Skylines

Skyline returns to its proper Saturday night home tomorrow with a new twice-a-month schedule. The Hanohano Room (now coolly dubbed The Cobalt Lounge for after-hour shindigs) will continue to keep Skyline a party with a view on the first and third Saturday of every month. The queue to get in is sure to be lengthy, so arrive early. From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., 21 and older. Cover is $10.


Guest-spinning at Hula's

San Diego-based DJ Barry Weaver describes his club soundtrack as "fusing early '80s post-punk and disco with the resurgence of electro and techno with a healthy dose of pop and rock thrown in." As a former member of rave legends FunkyTechnoTribe, Weaver worked alongside DJ Dan, Mark Farina and John Kelly. Piqued? Weaver guest-spins at Hula's Bar and Lei Stand (with resident DJ Maxx), Thursday at 9 p.m. More information at 923-0669.


Night music with C&K

"About You" live? We're there.

Cecilio & Kapono celebrate the recent release of their live concert DVD "Lifetime Party: 30 Years of Friends" with (what else?) live sunset shows at Kapono's tonight and Saturday. Tickets for the 8 p.m. shows (doors open at 7) — $16 advance, $25 at the door — are on sale at Kapono's, by phone at (877) 750-4400 and online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Reach Derek Paiva at 525-8005 or dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.