WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS AT HOLO HOLO
“Who are you excited to see perform, Queens?” I ask as we assemble our camera gear under our team’s tent hidden in the corner of backstage
“Six60! That’s us!” Queenie exclaims back to me. It’s our favorite time of year – festival season! The time of year where Pacific Islanders come out of hiding and have one big party. It’s one of the very few times in the States where you will see Polynesians, Micronesians, and Melanesians all together coming out of hiding and skanking the night away.
“Oh that’s a good one! I’m honestly excited to see Rebel Souljahz – I haven’t seen them live yet.” I respond, humming the tune of “Ms. Beautiful.” If I can explain Rebel Souljahz in one word for me it is – nostalgia! I grew up listening to them with my dad always playing their songs whether we are cruising in the truck, barbequing, or working out.
The team already knows they’re deliverables. All of us spread out with a camera in hand, running around the greenery at Snapdragon Stadium, taking pictures of people who we assume are going to give us their best festival energy for the snap. The boys go out in the crowd, and gather shots from those walking in, buying food, or the Holo Holo Festival veterans setting up their blankets to solidify their spot for the rest of the day on the grass. The other half of the team, go out to snag crowd interviews and then they would rush back after an artist performs to grab a few production worthy videos so we can post on social media. Meanwhile, the other part of the team is in the media pit, capturing the moments of every artist and the crowd’s engagement which we then run off while Big Body Cisco and the Western Conference takes over between sets, back to our media tent and we quickly export and import our photos into our phones. Soon after an artist is finished we try to post in real time for all of our friends who weren’t able to come and party with us at Holo Holo San Diego, and they get to experience everything with us in real time, once we post an edited photo or video on the story or feed. If you stayed this long, fa’afetai family, because you probably didn’t want to hear what actually goes on behind the scenes…or did you?
DAY 1
Anyways, let’s get into the fun of Holo Holo San Diego and why you should buy your ticket for Holo Holo Sacramento or Holo Holo Tacoma…and no, not because you want to meet this amazing team of creatives who is enticing you to come to the next one, but because this is something you don’t want to have the fear of missing out on. I don’t make the rules.
The first day line up heated up the weekend with a stacked line – up of Finn Gruva and Fia giving us their smooth vocals. If you listen to island music, then you know having Finn Gruva and Fia kicking off the day, you’re taken back into time with their timeless songs that still do not miss years later. Spawnbreezie, comes into the scene taking the stage, singing his notable songs. His performance speaks for itself, he sounds just as good as the recording, and if anything it might even be better with his live band backing him up, and might I add, he brought out his daughter to sing Celle’s part in “Im in Love.” Spawnbreezie wasn’t the only girl dad who brought out his family to perform, Fia, also brought out his lovely kids with him out on stage during his performance.
In preparation for the co-headliners, we get taken to Australia and New Zealand with performances by Sammy Johnson and L.A.B. Sammy Johnson with his blend of soul and island reggae, captivates the audience with his runs and riffs in his hit songs. He grabbed the attention of many from the audience when he was spotted wearing his t-shirt “I am not perfect but I am Samoan so close enough.” I’m not Samoan by blood, maybe adoption depending on who you ask, but if you ask me, I would probably snag one as well.
Ending the night, we have two legends co-headlining. Fiji going first being the trailblazer he is, and J Boog comes after topping off night one. I don’t know where to begin with these two artists. They put on a memorable show with songs that never get old. We can all probably agree Fiji or J Boog are probably some of the two island reggae artists where if someone didn’t know island reggae going into Holo Holo Festival, those were the artists where you would need to know their songs, so you don’t feel like you’re missing out on the experience of singing along with everyone else.
Fiji takes center stage and captivates the audience with his strong vocals that sound exactly like you’re hearing it for the first time on a streaming platform. By this time, the sun has begun to set, and there is no empty space from the barriers to the end of the grass before you walk down a mini hill that leads you to the food and clothing vendors. It is the perfect combination of a summer night, where the sky exchanges colors and the climate turns a little cooler, and you’re grooving to the beat of one of Fiji’s iconic songs, singing it passionately to the stranger you befriended while holding your spot in the pit, who is singing equally as passionate next to you.
And the crowd screams for more as Fiji’s set comes to an end and after his encore song, and the crowd stays put jamming out to the song’s the Western Conference mixes up to get everyone hyped up again for J Boog and to distract them from their feet being tired and blistered.
“How are you doing?” I ask Queenie as we see the night coming to an end after Fiji and we realize we’re going to be running around and capturing for one more day.
“Oh you know just editing and trying to upload these pictures,” She responds without looking up from her phone. I return to the media tent to change batteries and give her my camera so she can take my SD card to upload the photos I had taken, while I prepare myself to get back in the media pit for J Boog, this time with Queenie’s long lens.
I take a big deep breath, and then start walking towards the screams and a few “chee-hoo’s” from the crowd as I hear the build up of J Boog’s band starting to play. I walk to the less crowded part of the media pit, near the back, and snap a few photos of J Boog, while he starts his first note. I don’t think there were any songs no one knew. Pretty much the whole crowd was buzzing off J Boog and finishing his lyrics everytime he stopped and allowed the crowd to sing.
I’m not going to lie, I took a break from snapping pictures and enjoyed J Boog’s set half way through…who wouldn’t? I wanted to sing some of the songs too and I am not ashamed to admit that.
DAY 2
If you thought day one of Holo Holo San Diego was iconic, just wait til you read about day two. One thing about these artists and musicians – they do their music justice! From Lea Love to Maoli, I don’t recall anyone not sounding the same as their recordings. If anything their performances were elevated because they all had their live bands with them giving it a raw and authentic look to their set and sound.
Day two line up had a bit of everything for everyone. If you were in the audience, you received classic island reggae performances from Three Plus, Rebel Souljahz, and Katchafire who are all amazing groups and they should all be in your island reggae playlist and if they’re not…we have to work on your playlist. If you are a loyal Holo Holo go-er and were there from the beginning of the day then you were blessed with the vocals from Lea Love, Siaosi, and Eli Mac who all have their own unique sound and groove with their music.
Eli Mac gave a little spunk in her performance, you couldn’t take your eyes off her. Lea Love showed you all the love in her performance being that she was one week fresh from being married! Not only that, she gets to perform alongside her husband Swells OC! Siaosi brings his Tongan suave into his performances with his stand out vocals as he ushers us into a “Reggae Party” throughout his entire performance. We got a teaser of his vocals on day one when he was singing backup for the legend, Fiji.
As the night starts shifting, the less grass you are able to see as the crowd begins to fill up. Maori and New Zealand flags start coming out as Six60 takes the stage sharing their mana they brought from their long trip from Aotearoa. Six60 brought the good vibes and blessed Snapdragon Stadium with their musical talents for their fellow New Zealand All Blacks brothers who were going to take the field the weekend after.
Not sure if it was because Holo Holo was in San Diego that weekend, and San Diego is known for Coastal Cowgirl/boy energy or perhaps Maoli was performing, but by this time of the festival, I couldn’t keep up with how many people were rocking their hats and boots looking as if they came straight from the ranch to the festival. If I knew this was the memo, I would have put on my boots from Tecovas and a pricey Stetson hat and played my part in this, but I dressed to take pictures of everyone in their hats and boots. Sigh. But I am giving you all a heads up now if you are planning to go to the next Holo Holo in Sacramento, and you want to fit in with the rest of the Maoli fans, dress as if you were attending Stagecoach and you will fit right in! You can’t say I didn’t warn you. This is your time to pull the trigger on what’s been waiting in your shopping cart.
If you couldn’t tell from social media, Maoli shook the hats off everyone and had their boots knocking with his stellar performance. Everyone was jamming and skanking the rest of the night away as they “Shoot Down” every negative vibe they had from the San Diego heat making them irritable; and how “Every Night and Every Morning” post-Holo Holo they’re going to remember how unforgettable Maoli’s live performance was.
