Anuhea - World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, 3/22/2017: A Delightful Bit Of Hawaii Heats Up A Frigid Night, Plus Sets By Mahi & WonderBoy




Anuhea played at the upstairs venue of World Cafe Live for the second time on Wednesday, March 22nd. It was four years less one day since her last show there on March 23, 2013. We arrived nice and early, which was good for a couple of reasons. We got a great location right up front, which you'll see in the videos. We had time for a leisurely dinner. The World Cafe menu is always interesting, and the food is always good. And finally, as we sat down, Anuhea began her soundcheck, which was a nice and lengthy version of "Higher Than the Clouds", the song that she chose to close her set. She left the stage to her guitarist Mahi, who played some dazzling lead guitar.

The show began with an opening set by Philly local BoyWonder (Andre Coles), who sang accompanying himself on acoustic guitar. According to his bio, he grew up in West Philadelphia, "Andre was exposed to a myriad of music genres Blues, Jazz, Motown, Philly International, and Gospel yet the Police remained his number one inspiration." He did a wide ranging set of mostly originals that was quite enjoyable; watch the videos of "Love Struck" and "Toxic (Britney Spears cover)" shot at the show.

After a break, Anuhea's band took the stage. Guitarist Mahi warmed up the crowd, accompanied by Jason on bass and Revelation on drums. Mahi played "Kissing You", a great sounding original, composition and a number of soul covers starting with a terrific version of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly". Even if he was possibly covering The Fugees version, the result was excellent just the same. Jason then began the iconic bass riff that opens "My Girl" (Temptations) and Mahi knew he had another crowd pleaser. In light of the music's innate appeal, Mahi perhaps didn't need to come on so strong with audience participation, but the crowd liked him regardless. When taking requests some fan who knew his music made him a happy man by asking for another of his original tunes, but the request he wound up settling on was a Jackson 5 oldie. Check out videos "Killing Me Softly (Roberta Flack cover)", "Kissing You", "I Want You Back (Jackson Five cover)", and Shining Star (The Manhattans cover).

When the band started the next number, Mahi introduced Anuhea who launched into her set with "Come Over Love". Her set was so well constructed that it seemed like, for the first half hour, each new song began as the previous song ended, some even overlapping like a good radio segue.



Anuhea's band was superb. Jason on bass and Revelation on drums were so rock steady that I think they could have given any song the full Jamaican reggae treatment. They played some mighty fine "riddim". Mahi is an enormously gifted guitarist whether he's dazzling on his Fender Stratocaster or voicing beautiful moodswings on his acoustic. He also sang with Anuhea on a couple of tunes. This band is talented, tight, and you can see why Anuhea brings them with her from Hawaii.

When she played "Island Inside Me" from her first album, she mentioned that it had been eight years since that debut was released in 2009. That record put her on my map, making my list of the ten best albums of that year. She has a great singing voice with a facility for rap, which she busts out from time to time, like on the encore when she introduced and invited each band member to take a solo. Anuhea is naturally at ease with the audience, telling long stories over the intros, which sounds quite like an old friend bringing you up to date on what she's been up to.

Anuhea is also a super songwriter. Her music blends rock, pop, soul, and reggae into something that comes out decidedly Hawaiian. She can more than hold her own with more well-known singer songwriters. Anuhea said that she's been doing some recording in L.A. for her next album and she plans to go back next month to do more. She also mentioned that it will be on a new label (her third). I think that with the right exposure, Anuhea could see the breakthrough that her music deserves.

Many thanks to World Cafe Live for the excellent lighting and sound.
Many thanks also to Beverly Kates for camera work and to Lindsey Mitchell for video production.

Watch "Come Over Love"


Setlist: Click song to watch.
01. Come Over Love
02. Only Man in the World
03. Looking for Love
04. Big Deal
05. I Just Want You Around (including Drop, Baby Drop)
06. Forever Summer
07. Sweet Thing
08. Island Inside Me
09. Simple Love Song
10. Shoulders
11. Higher Than The Clouds
12. Send My Love (to your new lover)[Adele Cover] w/ band solos



Anuhea's Website
Anuhea's Facebook
Anuhea's Twitter


Mahi's Facebook
Mahi's Twitter

BoyWonder's Facebook
BoyWonder's Twitter

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Main Point, 1964 - 1981

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #5 Begining in 1964, The Main Point in Bryn Mawr provided the Philadelphia area with one of its most enjoyable venues for live music. Although it started as a folk based coffeehouse, all styles of music were presented over the years. Financial problems continually plagued the Main Point, and in spite of frequent benefit shows by artists who loved the place as much as the audience, the club finally closed in 1981. The following brief history is contained in an obituary of Jeanette O. Campbell, one of the founders and owners of the Main Point who died on October 22, 2006, written by Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Sally A. Downey as reprinted on the Save Ardmore Coalition website. Jeanette Orndoff Campbell, 89, former owner of the Main Point, a music hall in Bryn Mawr where young talents including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor were introduced to local audiences, died of complications from hip surgery Oct. 22 at Stap
Read more

Cream and Blind Faith at the Spectrum, Philadelphia, 1968 & 1969

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #3 (L-R) Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, & Eric Clapton I could not have foreseen it at the time, but looking back on a concert going history now entering it's fifth decade, my first three concerts were absolutely formative in the development of the music obsession that has driven life as we know it from that point forward. Attending a rock concert pre drivers license was no small feat, that I even got to these shows is the first indication that I knew I was onto something even if I couldn't quite explain it. I've already detailed my first concert (The Beatles at JFK Stadium) in my MMMM#1 . My second and third concerts took place at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, they were less than a year apart, and due to the fact that concerts never end at the time predicted, these concert experiences both ended with a very angry driver stuck waiting in the car outside the venue until the last encore had finished. I shot both concerts with the same starter
Read more

And We Danced - Filming the Hooters Video, 7/27/85

Image
WXPN Most Memorable Musical Moment #4 "And We Danced" (picture sleeve above) was released in 1985 as the second single from the album, Nervous Night , the Hooters' major label debut for Columbia Records. Here's the video. The call went out to the Hooters' mailing list the last week of July 1985 that an audience with cars would be needed on the coming Saturday for a video shoot. Participants would report to the Exton Drive-In by late morning and be prepared to stay all day until after dark. This stage set, early in the day, was a warm-up for the crowd and probably a dry run for the production team for the night-time performance to be filmed later. The banner backdrop does not appear in the video. Some of the antique and custom cars that were on hand for the shoot. The production crew prepares the ticket booth for its shot. This is the film crew shooting the acoustic intro part of the song. The acoustic intro was shot twice, first with t
Read more