Whew, what a trip so far. It has been so busy and hectic, I haven’t had time to take a breath to write on my blog. (I know, Alex and Dad did, but I require more time to sit down and do it). Anyhoo, here’s my Tuesday update for all y’all…

With 9 shows down and 11 or so more to go, we have been jammin’ round Tokyo. First two days we spent in Narita, performing at the Narita Airport’s “Oasis Music Week.” I’ll be honest, I thought it was going to be pretty bad, but it turned out to be ok. Good turn out for all five performances, and everyone really seemed to be in a good mood! Luckily, the last show was mostly people going to Hawai’i anyway, so I think they appreciated getting in the mood.

Yesterday was our first full day performing in Tokyo. We got up and headed to four different show locations, performing for travel industry types and people booking tours! It was really an interesting experience considering we had to play three of the four gigs acoustic. I felt like the old-time Hawai’i performers, showing our craft for anyone who would listen. Really humbling, and brought me back to our beginning days of Manoa DNA!

Well, we’re off to two more gigs in Tokyo, then on to Sendai. Hope everyone is doing well, and thank you to all those readers who came down and supported us!

Aloha,
Nick

Happy June All! I don’t know about where you are, but it is hot here! We don’t have too many special engagements this month, but we will be down at our regular haunts weekly. Here is our summary for June:

5th, 12th, 19th, & 26th: Lulus Waikiki Continuing our weekly Friday night feature at Lulus Bar & Grill in Waikiki, Manoa DNA is there every Friday night in June from 6pm-9pm!

6th, 13th & 27th: Kani Ka Pila Honolulu’s hottest kama’aina and visitor hotspot is Kani Ka Pila Bar at the Outrigger Reef Hotel in Waikiki! We are there on a couple Saturdays during June, so come and see us, 5:30pm to 8:30pm!

9th: Na Hoku Hanohano Live Performance For the first time in our short history, we have been invited to play live on stage during the Na Hoku Hanohano Award Ceremony! This is a huge honor for us and we are happy to be a part of this year’s festivities!

It was a great week as we traveled around Japan. Thank you to all who came out and saw us and joined us in some fun train action!

Hope you guys had as much fun as we did and we hope to return soon!

Aloha,
Nick

Fresh off the plane from beautiful, sunny Seattle, we are packing up and getting ready for our trip over the rest of the Pacific Ocean tomorrow. We are really looking forward to kicking off the 2009 Hawaii Tourism Japan Campaign tours, and are looking forward to seeing all our Japan friends!

Last Year’s Kagura Trip in Akiohtacho!

Check out our schedule for all the times and locations of where we will be.

Aloha and Sayooonara!
Nick

Tis the month of love and we here at Manoa DNA headquarters would like to wish everyone a very happy February! Now I know many of you are preparing for Valentine’s day on the 14th and wondering what you could possibly do to make the day as special as possible? Well I’m here to let you in on a couple of special events we have planned for this month, that you could include in your festivities!

2/6: Punahou Carnival Keeping alive the annual tradition, Manoa DNA will once again be performing for our alma mater at the Hawaiian Plate Booth of the Punahou Carnival. Always surrounded by our friends and family, we look forward to this gig every year as it gives us a chance to give back to the place that gave us so much. Friday, 2/6/09, 7pm, Hawaiian Plate Booth of the Punahou Carnival

2/7: Twilight at Kalahuipua’a For those of you on the Big Island, or planning to take a trip there, we will be performing for the February installment of “Talk Story” with Danny Akaka. Set on the porch of the Eva Parker Woods house at the Mauna Lani resort, it is a completely free event hosted every month under lantern and full moonlight. Saturday, 2/7/09, 5:30pm, Eva Parker Woods House on the grounds of the Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island

2/14: Ukulele Picnic Alongside great entertainers from both Hawai’i & Japan, Manoa DNA will be celebrating Valentine’s Day in style!

2/16: Great Aloha Run Entertaining the runners and their guests, Manoa DNA will be jammin’ up the Great Aloha Run party between 9 & 10 A.M. If you are running at this event, we’ll see you down there!

Other than that, we will of course have our usual monthly installment of Gordon Biersch on the 4th, and down at Lulu’s Waikiki on the 13th & 27th. For a full list of events, including the ones mentioned above, see our schedule.