B.E.T. set to deliver at Bomb-Bucha
By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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| Tim "Papa T" Troxell, front, and Joe "J.D." Daniels, on the background screen, are B.E.T. (Big Every Time), whose mixed-plate style includes R&B, ska, reggae, calypso and dancehall. The duo is among several local groups on the menu at the Bomb-Bucha '04 concert.
Bomb-Bucha '04 with B.E.T., Natural Vibrations, Three Plus, Ten Feet, Inoa'ole, Opihi Pickers, One Drop, Baba B, Zach Kekona, Hulili, Hot Rain, Pipeline Band, Mr. Vegas 4-10 p.m. Saturday Waikiki Shell $16, $20, $26 (877) 750-4400 |
Bomb-Bucha show.
First, the good stuff.
"They're huge concerts with the kind of audiences that only a Mainland act would draw," said Tim "Papa T" Troxell, the half of the B.E.T. musical partnership that isn't Joe "J.D." Daniels. "Local groups don't draw those kinds of crowds alone. But when you put 'em all together like that, fans get a chance to see all of 'em."
The bad? Pray that the fests' rigid scheduling of musicians' sets doesn't fall behind schedule enough to start slicing stage time.
"One year, the promoter told us, 'You got two songs!' " recalled Troxell, about a multi-act fest early in B.E.T.'s career. "And then he came back later in the show, mad, and said, 'OK, now you gotta play your best song! Just one song!' We looked around ... and told him, 'You know, if everything's fallin' behind, we'll just do no songs. It's OK with us.' "
Troxell laughed hard. The kind of "look back with humor" laugh of someone for whom 10-minute opening slots and "sun beaming in your face" twilight sets at the Waikiki Shell fests were a thing of the past.
"We were beginning to think that those sunset sets were a hint for us to lose some weight," said Troxell, holding back more laughs. "(The sun) just hits you, like, 'Boom!' And we're not small guys, you know?
"Now we actually get a half hour." Pause, for effect. "And it's in the evening."
B.E.T. has brought its funked-up mixed plate of R&B, hip-hop and reggae (with side scoops of punk, dancehall and ska) to three of four Island 98.5 FM Bomb-Bucha shows.
Troxell's and Daniels' decade-long friendship — initially struck up via a mutual love of hip-hop — has produced three albums of positive, increasingly conscious-raising, anthems. In addition to reaching new sales heights with each set, the recordings — "Polynesian P-Funk" (1998), "Here We Come" (2000), "Volume 3" (2002) — have addressed local issues such as absentee fathers, ethnic and social-class rivalries, and Pacific-islander struggles.
"Our songs are usually about real-life situations that happen to us, our parents, people we know," said Troxell. "We're very close to the subjects. What you hear is pretty much (about) us.
"A lot of people like how our music sounds. But I think what they like about us most is the way they can just relate to our songs."
After discussing individual solo projects for some time, B.E.T. finally found inspiration for its next CD in the recipe of a recent multi-Grammy winning release.
"We're doing OutKast local-style," Troxell said of B.E.T.'s fourth album, scheduled for a late summer release. "We'll do five solo songs each, and then do five together. The solo stuff will still be B.E.T.
"J.D.'s gonna have more of the funk, R&B and ballads. I'm gonna do some reggae, some ska, a little calypso and some dancehall. I think it will show our individuality and versatility."
Sadly, the duo will have to record for the first time without the help of its resident B.E.T. taste meter — Troxell's grandmother.
"My grandma would be outside having a little wine or something, wearing these real big bifocals so she'd look at me and J.D. not knowing who was who," recalled Troxell. "But we'd do the songs for her. And if she tapped her toes, we'd know we had the jam!
"It was like, 'Hey, watch Granny! She's tapping her toes!' "
Troxell let loose a deep laugh.
"Now that Grandma passed away, it's like, 'Oh, man, where'd that go?' "
Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8005.
