Kawehi >> strolled through Portland over the weekend for an interesting show at the Doug Fir Lounge on a chilly, rainy, chill night in the land of weird. It was a fun show at a very fun and iconic music venue that I've always wanted to check out. The experience was uniquely awesome and the tree-like motif with full-on indoor forest acoustics certainly didn't disappoint my high expectations of aesthetics and sound.
Kawehi is super cute and all 5-foot-nothing of her is seemingly full of fun, bubbly and awkward personality. This big island, little vixen is very gifted musically as well but only a small amount of that talent was on display for the show. She started her set with a super sick cover of 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails and followed with more covers and an abundance of stories.
She creates all of her sound on the spot with her soft yet very powerful at times vocals, an electric guitar with a body the size of her body and a sick electrical station of synths. I would have liked to hear more original music that wasn't a lame anniversary song for some assholes in the audience or a happy birthday dedication to another turd in attendance or even just more upbeat covers that could have gotten an anxious, packed house to move their feet more. I recognize the talent in Kawehi but the audience read was just not there.
My favorite jam was her cover of 'Chandelier' by Sia which was very crisp, creative and most importantly inspiring for Doug Fir crowd to count twice and imbibe accordingly.
marc
