11/18/07 San Pedro, CA Warner Grand Theatre

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Bill was in fine form for a guy who's 99 and 11/12ths years old. . I'd say the show was actually about 60% jazz standards and 40% Hawaiian. I'd thought it was going to be kind of a tribute show, with a short set from the "birthday boy," but Bill and the band that accompanied him (guitar, drums and upright bass, played by a young woman who also sang and scatted) played almost the entire show, more than an hour and a half.

This was a return appearance at the Warner Grand for Mr. Tapia. He last played there in 1935.

Jim's appearance was quite brief, two of his slack key songs right after intermission and then one number with Kapo and a very eyecatching hula troupe (what's the word for a hula school? I think I knew it once).

Bill closed the show with "Young At Heart." And I'd say he is.

Then everyone got invited up on stage to meet Bill and eat birthday cake. I accepted the cake, but Bill was ensconced in "autograph hell" so I decided that he probably wouldn't much miss not shaking the hand of yet another person he didn't know, so I meandered into the lobby with Diva and Greg and we chatted with Jim for a few minutes.

A good evening. And anybody who's a fan of really fantastic Art Deco theatres shouldn't miss this one.

[Kristine]

I'm glad you had fun! Thanks for the review.

The word you're looking for is "hālau".

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Thank you, although I don't know how to achieve the nifty bar atop the "a."

I went to a funeral today, and at the luncheon afterward, I decided to try changing the subject ("how my relative died" stories-- I wasn't sitting with the bereaved family, of course, I wouldn't try to steer them away from that subject, it's their right to talk about it) by saying, "But some people are much luckier. Last night I went to this concert by a 99-year-old ukulele player..." and the man next to me said, "You went to hear Bill Tapia?"

[albinodwarf27]

Thanks so much for the review, Helen. I hope we're all in such fine form at 99 and 11/12! Love the funeral story, too.

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Here's a photo of Bill Tapia's REAL hundredth birthday party from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

And get this... Bill wasn't the oldest guy at the party!

And in further Bill Tapia news... I saw where he was advertising himself as available to play gigs on the Honolulu Craigslist. You gotta admire spirit like that.

[flusher5]

I never heard of him, I know people 70-85 years old that look older then him, he looks like he is 70, or maybe even younger