Far from the seaside home in the islands where he grew up, a Hawaiian performer hoped to please crowds by bringing some of the tropical spirit to the Sonoran desert. But, more importantly, he hoped to knock down some of the most common stereotypes about Hawaii's culture.
Keali'i Reichel's concert featured updated traditional Hawaiian lyrical chants sung to a mixture of traditional music and modern pop during his near-capacity show in Gammage Auditorium at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Many people in the audience cheered when Reichel mentioned that he had returned to the Phoenix area after a few years, demonstrating that they had returned to see him again. The crowd from the desert that "sucks all the moisture out" of people's skin delighted in the many humorous anecdotes and occasional sexual references, laughed at Hawaiian-language jokes in his songs and cheered at the end for the hula dancers that danced alongside Reichel.
"Hula is a traditional dance," Reichel said in an interview prior to the concert. "Contrary to belief, the hands do not tell the story. It's the poetry...that tells the story."
Five dancers performed the ornate bodily motions of traditional hula to the sound of chanting and music. The chant language is foreign to most modern audiences and requires, in Reichel's words, movement that is more "gestureful" to communicate the meanings of words.
"It's a pretty good happy medium," Reichel said.
Four musicians, two few backup singers and five side dancers performed on the otherwise simple stage. A crew of 30 to 40 people is typical for a mainland show, Reichel said, but performances are tailor-made for each venue. He brought a larger team when he performed in front of 18,000 people at the Hollywood Bowl.
"It's great we try to put out the same kind of energy to the audience, whether it's a big crowd [or a small one]," Reichel said.
Being able to perform in a variety of venues has come in handy, Reichel said. Playing with a small crew in stores has been an important part of promoting his albums. A week after returning from Carnegie Hall in his second year of touring, after having had a sold-out show with 70 people onstage, he was performing in Wal-Mart's underwear section.
Reichel said he has made five albums already and is currently working on a new project. The concert featured often-requested older songs as well as ones not yet released.
"We try to give people what they want and educate people at the same time," Reichel said.
Hollywood images of hula that often include a scantily-clad young woman swaying her hips in a grass skirt are playing on a "typical stereotype" of Hawaiians, Reichel said.
"It's just one section of a whole large picture of who we are as a people," Reichel said.
A "huge name" in Hawaii, Reichel is a respected artist who seeks to present the Hawaiian culture to Arizona's growing Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific community, Gammage public relations manager Kariann Medina said.
"When he produced his first album, it was a huge success," Medina said. "His album sold more in Hawaii than Madonna."
With a musical style that combines guitar music with traditional Hawaiian sounds, Medina described Reichel as a "blend." One of the instruments in the band's arsenal was a dried, hollowed-out gourd made for use as a percussion instrument.
His mixture of styles has attracted a broad audience, Medina said. Everyone from Native Americans to New Zealanders make up Reichel's fan base.
"We have people who are traveling from as far as Florida...to come and see this performance," Medina said.
Prior to the show, there was an assortment of booths set up in the lobby and in front of the auditorium. Outrigger canoes brought by Arizona's outrigger canoe club were on display, as were Hawaiian quilts and a tapas exhibit, where visitors simulated the Hawaiian traditional stamped tree bark by using ink stamps on brown paper.
People were given an "Aloha" at the door and given shell leis when they arrived in the auditorium. They had the opportunity to learn how to make leis out of flowers in the lobby.
"There's going to be a lot of activities going on," Medina said before the show.
A welcoming festival was held in Phoenix's Heritage Square Thursday morning to introduce Reichel to the Phoenix metropolitan area, according to Tom Muller, a founder of a local non-profit "cultural company" called Aloha Arizona Connection. The company owns a small island-themed gift shop and helps with Hawaiian events like the welcome and a larger event called "Aloha in the Desert."
Muller, who manned a booth at the pre-show, said prior to the concert that the local Native American community came out to put on the welcome. The Hawaiians and Native Americans share cultural ideals.
"The Hawaiian culture is very close to the Native American culture, where we're all connected to Mother Earth and Father Sky," Muller said. "The Hawaiian culture respects the land and the sea."
Near the end of the concert, Reichel declared his newfound love for fry bread, a Native American specialty. He thanked the community for participating in his hula workshop Thursday in Wells Fargo Arena, and a chant lecture and workshop Friday morning.
According to Muller, Hawaii is turning into a big, very commercial urban area, which is causing a resurgence of interest in older dancing and chanting styles. Born and raised in the islands, Muller said that Reichel's performance style goes a long way toward changing minds about hula and Hawaiian culture.
"He's one of the shows that do it, [and] he's one of the very few," Muller said.
Nicole Saidi is the Content Editor of the Web Devil. Reach her at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.
