---

Pepper to spice Blaisdell
Arena New Year’s Eve

MOVE OVER Wayne Newton and Howie Mandel -- the boys from Pepper will be home in a few weeks to ring in the new year at Blaisdell Arena.

Word had spread online last week that the Kona-based group would be coming back, with Tom Moffatt making the official announcement on Friday. They'll be joined onstage by Go Jimmy Go, Natural Vibrations and Black Square.

Fans on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island will also get a chance to see Pepper perform during concerts scheduled for Dec. 28 through 30.

Tickets for the Honolulu show go on sale tomorrow at all Ticketmaster outlets for $29.50 each; call 877-750-4400 to order by phone ...

CONGRATS to the gang at Kona Brewing Co., who celebrated their Hawaii Kai brew pub's first anniversary last weekend.

The brewery teamed up with Bishop Museum and collections manager DeSoto Brown to pay tribute to Kuapa Pond, which was dredged in 1959 to make way for what is now known as Koko Marina.

About 15 photographs by Margaret Titcomb, Laurence Hata, Ray Jerome Baker, N.R. Farbman and L.E. Edgeworth are displayed in the dining area. They show what the area looked like in the '30s, '40s and '50s. KBC is also donating $1 to the museum from every pint of beer sold until Dec. 17.

And from now until the end of 2005, Bishop Museum members who present their membership card before ordering will score a free appetizer for their table with an entree purchase. My suggestion? Try the Mauna Lua Volcano Rolls ...

Jason Miller, the man behind Hawaiian Express Records and 808shows.com, puts in a ton of effort to host punk shows. But a fight at the end of the Dwarves concert on Friday has the 34-year-old father of three thinking that the time has come to hang it up for good.

"I'm definitely going to sit back and think," Miller said. He ended up losing his wedding ring during the scuffle, and only managed to find it after turning the venue upside down with a few friends the next day.

"I've put my wife through a lot," he said. "I've always said that I'll only do it until it's not fun anymore."

While some promoters are only in it for the fame and fortune, Miller has always been down for the scene. Send an e-mail to hwnexp@aol.com and let him know how much he's appreciated ...