The spirit of legends performing on Oahu continued this weekend with the Mighty Diamonds, a trio of singers who helped make the Roots Reggae genre popular in the late 1960's-early 1970's. They performed Friday night with their backup band at Tropics on the corner of Ward Farmer's Market. I found out they were going to be there while listening to KTUH in my car around 11 p.m. waiting for my friend to come out of his house.
The gig was not advertised in any paper, gearing it towards the island's underground music community who may not have 35 dollars to see them perform on Valentine's night at Pipeline. We immediately drove to Tropics to find the place almost at full capacity. I knew the door man so we got in for 10 dollars. The energy was powerful inside because it was the headliner's first time performing in Hawaii, and it was much anticipated.
The backup band played heavy on bass, drums, and keyboard, while adding echo effects to form what is known as dub versions. They performed Reggae classics with the offbeat wizardry only veterans of the industry can do. The crowd responded with a frenzy of cheers, including myself. An hour later, the Mighty Diamonds singers came on and swooned the crowd with their soulful harmonies and hooks. I looked around to see all couples joined at the hip.
Two o'clock in the morning came upon us quick as the band played their hana hou. The crowd wanted more but the joyous occasion had to come to an end. We left immediately after the last cymbal crash at around 2:15 am in order for myself to have a few winks before work.
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