Strictly Bangers 2023 to 2026: a Local Karaoke Party at The Manifest

In January 2023, we were wrapping our series of Kalapana vinyl reissues with a whole lot of celebrations. Capping our vinyl reissue output for the legendary local band was AGS-0972, our five-record box set featuring our favorite cuts to DJ with, Aloha Got Soul Selects Kalapana.

We also put together a pop-up at Sig on Smith's Kaiao Space, showcasing the band's music and legacy with rare Kalapana memorabilia, rarely seen photos, vintage merchandise, concert posters, archival video footage, original instruments and more from across the band’s career. A ton of which were sourced from Uncle Donnie Martin. 

Following the pop-up at Kaiao Space, we moved over to Chinatown institution The Manifest for an after party dubbed Strictly Bangers. The idea was to gather together for a local style karaoke party, especially focused on Kalapana's music and including other classics from the 70s and 80s era of Hawaii contemporary music. 

That party was insane! The Manifest was packed and although we thought there'd be some orderly sequence of people singing, signing up for songs they'd want to sing... what ended up happening was that everyone in the bar sang out loud together, all night long! Our host Hows Dis Guy aka Zavier Cummings could hardly be heard on the mic because the crowd was so incredibly, excitedly loud the entire night.

It was unreal. We didn't expect that, nor had we every experienced something like it! The experience we took home and the energy of the room that evening empowered us to want to do another Strictly Bangers some day.

Since that January 2023 evening, we've hosted two additional Strictly Bangers parties at The Manifest—one in August 2023, and another in August 2024. 

August 2023's event followed the devastating fires on Maui, and so we decided to turn the party into a fundraising event with raffle prizes and all doors sales going to the Hawaiian Council. In total, we raised $3,154 that evening. 

We also brought in Brother Noland as a special surprise guest that evening. No one knew he was coming! Towards the end of the party, we walked him through the back door of The Manifest and up into the DJ booth, where his presence was soon acknowledged with the entire room singing "Coconut Girl" together. After his guest appearance was pau, Noland said he'd never experienced anything quite like it—and also, that he hardly had to sing, since everyone was belting their hearts out together. 

We also invited a few friends to dance hula, with a moment to honor the late Darren Benitez. The mood in the room when they took the floor went from electric excitement to graceful gratitude and immense pride for the music, people and ohana of Hawaii. It was a precious, moving moment for everyone.    

The raffle included prizes, gift cards and items from local businesses Aloha Beer Company, Blue Note Hawaii, Kakou Collective, Pacific19, Try Coffee.

In August 2024, we ran it back! This time it was for The Manifest's 15 Year Anniversary. Again, the evening was full of excitement and chee hoo's!