THE NIGHT STUFF
Where rubbah slippahs are required

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Above: Marques Wyatt returns to Honolulu for gigs at the Wave Waikiki tonight and Hula's Bar & Lei Stand Saturday. Below: Not only is DJ G-Dog a promoter of tonight's launch of the surf-party style weekly "$5 Pitchers and Rubbah Slippahs" at the Hard Rock Café, he'll also provide some grooves.

Rest easy, designer slaves. The folks launching tonight's "$5 Pitchers and Rubbah Slippahs" at the Hard Rock Café promise to allow you past the velvet rope — or whatever they're substituting it with — anyway.

As designed by hosts Stone Groove Family, Soljah and Vertical Industries, the Friday weekly is being billed as the ideal after-hours experience for anyone weary of high-end parties more focused on dress codes and an aura of exclusivity than a certain "love all, serve all" mentality.

"Being born and raised on surfing and surf culture, we just thought we'd throw a surf party like we used to," said Grant Fukuda, aka Stone Groove's DJ G-Dog. "The beauty of those parties was you surfed all day, then you go to the party in your surf shorts."

Not that Fukuda finds anything particularly wrong with dressier Honolulu parties — such as Wonderlounge, Skyline and Star Bar — where he sometimes spins.

"I guess you could say what we wanted to do is to try and capture a really nice house party. Only without the house," said Fukuda.

The name the promoters collectively agreed on for the party addresses its ethos directly, if not all that eloquently.

"Part of the whole gimmick was: Slippers are required. And if you wore Gucci or Prada, we'd turn you away at the door," said Fukuda, laughing.

He was joking, of course. Anyone 18 or older — including patrons with the gall to show up in Versace — will be allowed in.

Fukuda said "$5 Pitchers" would drop live bands into its sonic mix once a month, for starters. Tonight's party features O'ahu rockers Neken. Otherwise, you'll find resident DJs G-Dog and Jrama spinning a beach-friendly mix of classic roots reggae (Bob Marley), dancehall (Sean Paul), So-Cal surf punk (Pepper) and current hip-hop, alt-rock and modern rock.

"We just wanna throw a really good party that encompasses the aloha spirit," said Fukuda. "This is Hawai'i. Come as you are. Have a good time. We just want everybody to feel welcome."

From 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Entry is $5 (21 and over) and $10 (ages 18 to 20). Call 955-7383 for more information.

Bring on the funk & reggae

Speaking of courting a "love all, serve all" mentality, the always-welcoming folks at the Wave Waikiki's Pussycat Lounge promise an evening of sublime jazz- and funk-tinged house when Bay Area-based turntablist John Howard guests on Tuesday. Howard's percussive mix of tribal and deep-house stylings can be found on noted dance music label Om Records' 2000 release "San Francisco Sessions, Vol. 2." Doors open at 9 p.m., but the Pussycat really purrs post-midnight. Entry is $5 before midnight, $7 thereafter; 21 and older.

Howard also guest-spins tonight at Indigo Eurasian Cuisine's Get Fresh weekly (10 p.m.-2 a.m., $8-$10, 21 and older) and Saturday's Feng Shui at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki's Ciao Mein Restaurant and Poolside Bar (9:30 p.m.-2 a.m., $10, 21 and older).

Howard's Om Records label-mate and fellow house afficionado Marques Wyatt returns to Honolulu for a couple of club dates this weekend. He'll be at the Wave Waikiki tonight (9 p.m.-4 a.m., $7 before 1:30 a.m., 21 and over) and Hula's Bar & Lei Stand (9 p.m.-4 a.m., $5, 21 and over) Saturday. For a pre-show primer, check out Wyatt's excellent 2004 release "Horizons," which tucks tasty Latin and African sonics in a snug blanket of deep house, tribal house and party synths.

Finally, Honolulu's hands-down best roots-reggae players, Natural Vibrations, celebrates its return from a three-week West Coast road trip with a Hard Rock Café show on Saturday. Expect a set list heavy on songs from the band's excellent 2003 disc "The Circle," which spent seven weeks on Billboard's Top Reggae Albums chart last fall, peaking at No. 12.

Doors open at 9:30 p.m. Cover is $10; 18 and older.

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