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In the Mix Jason Genegabus |
Pro Bowl draws
celebs to islesTHERE WAS no shortage of celebrities in town for the NFL Pro Bowl last week. San Francisco 49er Terrell Owens and ultimate fighter (and Hilo resident) B.J. Penn were at Pipeline Cafe on different nights; MTV's DJ Clue was at Volcanoes Nightclub on Friday; and the ladies of 3LW made an appearance at Kapiolani Park on Saturday.
For me the week's most surreal experience came on Thursday when Rev. Mason Betha -- or, to borrow an old description of Prince, "the artist formerly known as Ma$e" -- spoke to a small crowd at the Waikiki Shell. If you don't know the story, Betha parted ways with Sean "Puffy" Combs and denounced his ties to hip-hop after finding religion and deciding to become a preacher.
Wearing a white suit and flashing his trademark grin, Betha first asked the congregation to put their Bibles in the air, then admonished the Pro Bowl as just a "bunch of overgrown men throwing a ball in the sky." Honolulu was the 27th stop on his journey to all 50 states, and something like a football all-star game wasn't going to make him stick around. By Friday afternoon, Betha was back on a plane heading home to Atlanta ...
THREE CONCERTS are on the way that you need to know about. First, pop-punk band blink-182 returns to Hawaii on April 3 to play at the Blaisdell Arena. They'll be stopping off here after performing in Australia next month.
Tickets for the show go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday, with prices set at $29.50 and $35.
Also at the Blaisdell, reggae phenom Sean Paul makes his return here on Feb. 20. Tickets are already on sale, but they aren't cheap. Expect to pay $40 for access to the dance floor area downstairs at the Blaisdell, $32.50 if you want a reserved seat upstairs. Call 877-750-4400 to purchase tickets by phone for both concerts.
And on Feb. 21, Sea Life Park hosts the "Bud Light Surfer's Big Splash Island Reggae Tour," featuring Barrington Levy with Pato Banton and the Reggae Revolution. Be sure to get your tickets early for this one -- the first 1,000 sold are only $10 each, with the price jumping to $20 once those are gone and $25 on the night of the show.
Pre-sales for the "Surfer's Big Splash" are currently available at all Hawaiian Island Creation stores on Oahu, Blue Planet Surf, the UH-Manoa Campus Center and the Sea Life Park box office. Call 259-2577 ...
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In the Mix drops Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Star-Bulletin.
Contact Jason Genegabus at jason@starbulletin.com.