BY GREGORY WALKER

There’s a nip in the wind and the autumn leaves are falling.  It must be the perfect time for… a Tiki luau?

On Sunday, November 5th, the Boulder JCC will embark upon a fantastical Pacific journey with the 2017 installment of the Colorado NeXt Music Fest: Tiki Beat Taboo. 

 Following a free family Polynesian Dance Class at 3:30 pm and a surf rock extravaganza at 7 pm in Levin Hall, everyone is guaranteed to feel sand between their toes and a sea breeze in their hair by the end  of the evening. Like the original 1960s Tiki craze itself, Tiki Beat Taboo is a celebration of exotic and whimsical fantasies rather than an historically-accurate cultural treatise – even though it’s inspired by the 19th century queen of the Hawaiian Islands, Ka’ahumanu, and her quest to free her people of the many taboos that separated them. 

 

The French adventuress Rose de Freycinet, whose real-life diaries chronicled the travels of that feisty stowaway, is our fearless emcee.   Gentle strains of Hawaiian guitar music build to herald none other than Queen Ka’ahumanu herself as she enlists the audience to persuade the delinquent boy king Iolani to overthrow the Tiki God, Kū. 

The Tiki Beat Taboo house band, Reverb Royale, lays down everything from mystic tribal beats to kick-the-chairs-and-bust-a-move rock and roll grooves.  In the event people get too carried away, Denver’s Kalama Polynesian Dancers will both entrance and teach us a few authentic Hawaiian moves.

An imaginative exploration of retro Tiki culture, Tiki Beat Taboo is a dance party of groovy music, multimedia projections, history and fantasy.  Whether its July or November, whether there’s ocean spray on your cheeks or snow on your feet, it’s always the right time of year to treat friends and family to a unique musical adventure.

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