Touring with Kalani Pe‘a in 2023
Since working with Kalani Pe’a in 2018, we accumulated over 5 million views on YouTube and Facebook, produced and directed over 10 music videos and we had a hand in helping him win his 3 Grammy Awards. But 2023 brought in a new adventure to our friendship: traveling and music tours. With Allan Cool-Pe’a, Kalani’s husband and partner in Pe’a Records, leading the charge, he gave us the opportunity to finally tour with Kalani, himself and their operations manager who is also Kalani’s mom, Aunty Pua. We’ve done many inter-island trips within the Hawaiian Isles, but this was taking it to a whole different level by traveling outside the Pacific seas.
This was our first out-of-state tour with Kalani Pe’a and his team so the expectations were still sort of new for us. We weren't quite sure what to expect because when you’re on the road, the team is your family, your friend and most importantly your confidant. We don’t really know what it's like living with them on the road for weeks at a time, but what we do know is that we are capable of adapting to any opportunity and executing creative quality content at a consistent pace. So that’s what we did on this tour.
Kalani’s tour was a learning experience and different than many other artists. You can tell he’s prepared for the larger stages and really wants to connect with his fans across America. Each venue we experienced were theater style venues with fans from different races attending his show. Kalani, being a Hawaiian Language speaker, educator and author as well, attracted all different types of cultural audiences. But the coolest part of Kalani’s tour was how he is an advocate for Hula and Hawaiian Language. Kalani would have local Hula Halaus (Hula team) from the cities or states we are visiting to perform with him on stage. This allowed us to learn more about how the Hawaiian culture, Hawaiian language and Hula is still being perpetuated outside of Hawaii.
As the professional people watcher on tour capturing all the behind the scenes, the best would have to be the team behind Kalani Pe’a music. Let’s start at the top! Kalani Pe’a, the singer-songwriter is an amazing performer and people person. But behind him is Allan Cool-Pe’a who handles all the logistics, marketing and managing for Kalani. Next is Kalani’s mother, Puanani Pe’a or Aunty Pua, the operations manager and both Kalani and Allan’s assistant. That’s all. Just the three of them making such moves and including us as the content creators, filmmaker and photographer.
Left to Right: Allan Cool-Pe’a, Kalani Pe’a, Puanani Pe’a | Irvine, CA
Kalani Pe’a Fall Tour: Seattle, Irvine, San Diego
It’s been quite some time since we’ve been in the states for a music tour so it was quite exciting for us. Seattle definitely was a great first stop. We arrived late into Seatac, but we still managed to start our day early the next day to visit Pike’s Place and the first ever Starbucks location. After following Kalani and Allan around Pike’s Place to get some coffee and pastries, we got the chance to head 15 minutes away and try out Seattle’s favorite, Dick’s Burger. We come from being In-and-Out favorites but we still gave it a shot. It was alright.
As we arrived in San Diego at almost midnight, we checked into our hotel to get things settled as we prepared for our final show. San Diego was unknown territory for Kalani, for it was his first time performing in Escondido. But we wanted to get him excited for something else, Mexican food! We knew that San Diego was the prime location for great Mexican cuisine and we had the chance to get our fix at a nearby family-owned business. They served the most homecoming meal anyone could ask for and everything hit the spot, so we had to thank the family ourselves for blessing us with some amazing Mexican dishes.
Now that we got our Mexican fix, it was showtime and Kalani expressed his nervousness on stage. He is very transparent to his emotions but the crowd felt it and gave him the most homecoming experience ever. He had an incredible local Halau perform alongside him and the most memorable moment was his introduction of his best friend who performed as well.
Kalani Pe’a Christmas Tour: Beaverton, Henderson, Orem, Kahilu, Anaina Hou, Hawaii Theatre
After our Fall Tour with Kalani, it was such a success with the films and photographs being shared all over social media that we were invited back for Kalani’s Christmas Tour, with 6 shows spanning across America and the Hawaiian Islands. The format of the tour would be the same for us: capturing film and photos, but the twist is the holiday spirit that we were going to experience. Kalani created a setlist filled with holiday music from his Purple Hawaiian Christmas album, including music from Christmas Classics and films we grew up listening to. The cities were different, the weather was cold and the friends we would see in the different states were just going to be awesome.
The band behind Kalani Pe’a was definitely a level up for this tour. It consisted of the leader: Wailau Ryder (lead guitarist), Mike Casil (drummer), Mark Vaught (bass) and Aron Nelson (piano). This band were professionals with airtight musicianship and a whole bunch of fun offstage. They would travel with us, eat with us and joke with us but most importantly make the trip a memorable one. Each person, with dozens of years of experience in Hawaiian music and Hawaiian cultural ties, made each show that much more special.
We started our tour in Portland, Oregon. Once we exited the plane, the weather was immensely cold and we knew we were not in Hawaii anymore. We later drove north to the city of Beaverton, meeting with one of Kalani’s best friends, who is not only a graduate of the same Hawaiian Immersion school but a Kumu Hula based in Oregon with her family. Beaverton had a beautiful brand new venue surrounded by the lushes of pine trees and colors of fall. It was cold, very cold. But not snowing just yet. The show was amazing, with people of all races and families enjoying the holiday music and hula. The weather, the landscapes and the environment fit the spirit of Christmas.
We flew from Portland, Oregon to Seattle for a quick layover and ending our stop in Las Vegas. Our second show was hosted by the city of Henderson. We learned very quickly during soundcheck that Henderson does notwant to be called Las Vegas. We stayed in the downtown area near Fremont but during the show, we were in Henderson. Kalani had featured one Hula Halau, but three different Kumu Hulas as special guests for specific songs. This crowd was much more intimate and the venue was an amphitheater as well, which meant the cold Vegas air was among us. After the show, we all headed back to the hotel and thus began our day off.
Back from our day off, we took our last flight east to Salt Lake City, Utah. This was uncharted territory for us but Kalani’s second time performing in Utah. We have never been to Utah but we did know it would be cold or at least snowing. Upon arriving during the late hours, we managed to book three different rental cars because we would be leaving at different times. But our first stop was the most important time, In-and-Out Burgers! Once we had our fix, we headed 40 minutes south to the city of Orem. It was perfectly placed between the two major cities of Utah: Salt Lake City and Provo.
Just before the break of dawn, we headed out to capture the sunrise and some b-rolls of Orem and it was breathtaking. The mountains were white as snow, the sun peaking over the mountains were warm as fire, and the landscapes of Orem felt like we were in a city on Mars. The footage was just astonishing and we realized that we were to meet and be welcomed by the students, faculty and our Polynesian cousins from Utah Valley University later that morning. This was all of our first time to the UVU and the city of Orem and we learned that the city of Orem sits between two cities that praise Christianity (Salt Lake City) or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Provo). Kalani comes from a six-generation LDS family. This meant that it sits in the middle of two major rival universities too, University of Utah (Red Color) and Brigham Young University (Blue Color), which competes in sports where the rivalry is called Holy War.
The learning of the Utah culture, the religion and the scenery was just unforgettable. The theater in which Kalani performed felt like a massive mega church. The crew was perfect, the sound was riveting and the Hula that Kalani had featured was fun. After our meet and greet session, Kalani had a chance to spend some time with friends and family at the venue before leaving for our hotel. Because the next day, we and the band had to travel 40 minutes to Salt Lake City and catch a flight back to either Kahului, Maui or Honolulu.
From the first tour with Kalani to this most recent tour, we couldn’t be more grateful to Alaska Airlines for giving us the opportunity to fly comfortably with no headaches. They were one of our official sponsors, thanks to Kalani Pe’a, but they were the ones who gave us the freedom for our luggage, seats and even lounge access. Mauna Loa Mac Nut was also a key sponsor to the tour, enhancing our guest experiences each show by providing snacks, mac nuts and even ice cream for one of our shows.
After a week from our first half of the Christmas tour, we headed to Kona and traveled north to Waimea at the infamous Kahilu Theatre. It was my first time at Kahilu, but not Kalani and his bands first time. This is where he featured Lorna Lim’s Halau which consisted of her daughter Wehilei, who would later sing a couple songs. This was an unforgettable experience because Wailau is also the father to Wehilei and the musical genius behind her music as well. After the show, Kalani met with fans in the lobby area and was greeted by dozens of merchant buyers and Kalani Pe’a music lovers.
Early the next morning, we all headed to Kona airport to take our next flight to Kauai. We all had never been to this venue but we knew it was somewhere far because Kauai is only a two-lane type of island. 40 minutes from Lihue, we made it to Princeville on the north shore of Kauai. It was definitely far from the westside and felt very out of place, but it was there, and it happened to be at Anaina Hou. Kalani had featured the two best Halau from Kauai, but most importantly featured our dear friend Breezy Pavao who is the daughter of our dear friend Leina’ala Jardin Pavao of the award winning Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leinā'ala (we did a music video “Wena” by Josh Tatofi which later won Best Hawaiian Music Video at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards).
But the highlight came from not on stage, but off stage. We had the privilege to be blessed with the presence of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s beautiful mother Ata and his wife and friends too. His mother came backstage to give us her blessing, words of wisdom and gratefulness of sharing the Holiday spirit in Kauai. She even got to share some of her favorite Dwayne Johnson moments on her phone. What a time to be alive. It was a special time for us because it was our last show before we took our second break until the grand finale at the infamous Hawaii Theatre.
On the eve of Christmas Eve, we celebrated the final show of Kalani’s Christmas Tour. It was in Honolulu on the island of Oahu and we didn’t need to travel far. But this show was much different than all the other shows we were a part of. This venue has a massive LED Wall behind Kalani. This meant that we can add content to the wall with or without sound. And that’s just what we did. For the entire set, Kalani featured one Hula Halau, one dance squad and we added the vocals of Na Lei (background vocalist for Kalani Pe’a). We provided content for the LED Walls while managing to film the show. It was a fun experience because we had never done it before but because we knew how Kalani’s tour went and knew the setlist by heart, we were capable of designing his backdrops to fit the emotion of what’s happening on stage. Nothing short of amazing for us!
After touring with Kalani for both his Fall Tour and Christmas Tour, we definitely learned what type of audience fits him, what type of content he is seeking, and we know the style which fits his vision of where he wants to go in the music industry. This type of experience can never be taken back because we grow our vision and audience the more we travel outside of Hawaii. We know the challenges that are going on too and we can adapt to them whether it's mental, spiritual or physical. Our goal is to be cinematic storytellers worldwide and continue to grow with artists who trust us like Kalani and we hope to continue to be a part of Kalani’s vision and possibly his fourth grammy award!
Kalani Pe’a and Ata Johnson (Mother of Dwayne Johnson) | Princeville, Kauai