Weekend Brings More Music Than You Can Shake a Stick At

By Vanessa Wolf

Courtesy image.

What does that expression mean anyway?
We envision someone furiously waving a branch at a whole swarm of snakes.

Anywho, whether you’re into classical music, lovesick country songs, old timey surfer tunes, Hawaiian-influenced blues, or polyethnic Cajun slamgrass… this weekend has got it all.

Wish those goshdarned kids would turn that racket down?

Well, get some earplugs because it’s gonna be a long couple days.

 Classical Conditioning

You may know them as Quatuor Ébène, Ebène Quartet or just the Ebony Quarter, but note these four talented French string players will be doing what they do tonight at the MACC.

Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the stand-out quartets of the new generation,” they aren’t afraid to stretch beyond the boundaries of classical music.

The foursome is distinguished by youth, open-mindedness and versatility, and promoters report they have “had a meteoric rise to the top.”

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. in the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater. Tickets are $40.

Surfin’ Safari

The Beach Boys return to the MACC’s A&B Ampitheatre tonight at 7 p.m.

If you don’t know who they are, you’ve clearly been living under a rock.

For those of you living under rocks: from humble roots in Southern California, beginning in the early ’60s, The Beach Boys became a beloved American institution and an international sensation.

The now 50-year old band has hence been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Still not ringing a bell?

How about tunes like Surfin USA; Surfer Girl ; Fun, Fun, Fun; Little Deuce Coup; Kokomo; Wouldn’t It Be Nice; Good Vibrations; I Get Around; Help Me, Rhonda; and God Only Knows?

No?

California Girls?

Now you’re just toying with us.

Gates open at 6, show starts at 7 and tickets are $45, $55, $65 and $85.

Get the Blues

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On Saturday is the 2nd Annual Uncle Willie K’s BBQ Bluesfest.

Featuring Uncle Willie K and the Warehouse Blues Band with special guests Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Robert “Wolfman” Belfour, The Kings of Spade, The Tom Conway Band, Bobby Ingram band, Mike Carroll and Ageless, Lehua Kalima, RJ Kaneau and guests, this event is a benefit for the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii.

The show runs from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m at the Maui Tropical Plantation in Wailuku.

Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door.

Kids ages 10 to 16 are just $10. Nine or younger? Gratis.

For the Wranglers and Rounders

Still touring after all these years, The MACC states the Marshall Tucker Band will be playing all their hit singles at their show in Castle Theater Saturday night.

Apparently the familiar tunes you can expect include “Heard It in a Love Song,” “Fire On the Mountain,” “Can’t You See,” and “Take The Highway.” The Marshall Tucker Band earned seven gold and three platinum albums, and continues to be played on classic rock and country radio.

And apparently they’ve never stopped touring.

Still led by founding member and lead singer Doug Gray, they “represent a time and place in music that will never be duplicated; they continue to rock the house everywhere they perform.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $45, $50 and $55.

These Leftovers Probably Shouldn’t Be Eaten

Leftover Salmon. Courtesy image

Also on Saturday night, Leftover Salmon will be playing at Casanova in Makawao.

The self-described “polyethnic cajun slamgrass” group formed in Colorado in the early ’90s as a merger of two area acts, the Left Hand String Band and the Salmonheads.

Comprised of Vince Herman (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin); Drew Emmitt (vocals, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar, mandola, fiddle); Andy Thorn (vocals, acoustic and electric banjo, National guitar); Greg Garrison (vocals, acoustic and electric bass, acoustic guitar) and Alwyn Robinson (drums, percussion), the band’s good-timey sound “earned a grassroots following on the festival circuit.”

According to the only source where we could find specific details about this engagement – The Anchorage Daily News – the show starts at 10 p.m. and tickets are $25.

Get the Sensation of Cold, Crisp Mountain Air Against Your Face

Oh, wait.

That’s eating a York Peppermint Patty.

Anyway, on Sunday night take in the latest Starry Night Cinema with Warren Miller’s “Ticket to Ride.”

The most respected name in sports films presents his 64th ski and snowboard film, exploring the close relationship between humans and the vast natural environment, as the best skiers and snowboarders take an action-packed journey across the globe.

The MACC invites you to “experience the immense energy of the world’s most sought-after, steep-peak destinations: Iceland’s Troll Peninsula, The Fjords of Greenland, The Alaskan Tordirllos, Montana’s Big Sky country, and more. The trams and trains in Switzerland climb to Mt. Eiger, the fishing boats in Norway float to Alesund, and the helicopters in Valdez soar above avalanche debris, all making viewers motivated and excited to discover their own ticket to ride.”

Doors open at 5 p.m. and you’re invited to bring blankets and low-backed chairs to sit upon.

Leave the coolers and snacks at home and plan to purchase such sundries there.

The film itself will start at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free.