Honolulu Weekly

You’ve seen the commercials (almost as frequently as Girls Gone Wild). You’ve seen the album cover. Has Henry Kapono (pictured above) really gone wild? If wild is meant to underscore ‘native and proud of it,’ then Kapono really is the Wild Hawaiian. On Saturday, Kapono and his band kick off a multi-island tour for his new all-Hawaiian album The Wild Hawaiian with the opening performance at Hawaii Theatre. It’s called the ‘Groove-ment’ tour, because Henry Kapono wants everyone to get up and dance. Then they’ll sing, and then, he reasons, they’ll stop and think, ‘Cool man, I want to know more about the culture.’

The album came from Kapono’s own immersion in Hawaiian history and language. ‘I’ve watched and listened and read a lot about the Hawaiian situation,’ he says. ‘I started to develop my own consciousness about how I feelÖ I’ve never had a project that I’m so personally connected with.’

Duke’s Sunday regulars have heard a preview of the new album–songs like ‘Taboo’ in which Kapono teases classic rock riffs on an electric guitar and ‘Na Ali’i,’ a rhythmic, chant-like tribute to the kings and queens of old Hawai’i. But on this tour, don’t expect Kapono to sing about ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ He’ll be singing–in Hawaiian–about his sweet home Hawai’i. Slam poet Kealoha accompanies the wild Hawaiian, and Intrepid and the Hi-Frequency dancers will lead the groovement.

Hawaii Theatre, Fri. 7/8, 8pm, $30, 528-0506, [www.hawaiitheatre.com]