COURTESY OF VAL WANG
Eskae of the Nocturnal Sound Krew will be one of the "Popular" DJs.
Downtown crowd
gets ‘Popular’ party
At the ripe old age of 23, wizened Honolulu nightlifer Ara Laylo longs for her golden years. You know, like, 2001, 2002, that sort of thing.
'Popular'
Where: Club Pauahi, 80 S. Pauahi St.When: 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday
Admission: $5 cover, 18 and over
Info: e-mail avant_pop@hotmail.com
Before you chuckle, remember that this is a city that over the past two decades has cultivated a fabulously eclectic underground club scene that delights in bombarding its legions with such dizzying and divergent fare as techno, house, hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, ska and punk, often in the same night, in the same venue. Whether you came of age in left-of-center new wave-Eurodisco clubs like 3D and the Pink Cadillac in the '80s, outrageous, all-inclusive Radio Free Hawaii-sponsored extravaganzas at The Garage and After Dark in the '90s or, more recently, the rare gems that were the Acqua, Kids Klub and C*ntroversy shindigs, by the time your favorite monthly had run its course, you felt as if you'd endured a hundred different events.
"Whatever happened to those less pretentious dance parties we used to go to when we were underage?" Laylo asks. "It seems like everyone I know is transitioning into this late-20s age and our tastes are growing, but something's lacking" on the club scene.
A slate of good, head-bobbing tunes seems like a reasonable request, but between tired radio mega-mixes at mainstream clubs and spaced-out trance and house all-nighters at the more out-of-the-way venues, enjoying a simple, catchy ditty in a relaxed, cordial atmosphere has become a rare thing indeed. This Sunday night, at Club Pauahi downtown, Laylo's four-person party crew, known as Simply, will try to recapture the low-key, high-satisfaction vibes of yore through the time-tested selections of DJs Eskae of the Nocturnal Sound Krew, Matt Ratt and Drift of C*ntroversy fame.
"It's about camaraderie, it's about music, it's about the dance," she says, elaborating on Simply's plans for their once-a-month get-togethers they've christened "Popular."
"I ain't trying to make any money, really. I just want to go somewhere I can dance and help create an alternative to the mainstream dance clubs out there. I want to incorporate a broad range of music and I want new people to come in and enjoy themselves."
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