BAMP
I always wondered where all of these 3 by 5 inch flyer cards were coming from promoting dance music bands when I was walking on my way from Makiki to Ala Moana Building going to work. This is before I knew about the Republik and the awesome shows that are promoted there. Now I know it is BAMP, the owners and promoters of the Safehouse and the Republik.
The BAMP website and the Republik sites look very similar and link well. Now I understand it is the same people promoting music in HI.
So- I had this review almost finished on a different computer in a Word doc. And then before I post - I get an instant message, "Do you want an Elite Badge?" Heck Yeahhhhh!!!!!! I've been hoping to get a badge for soooooo long. On my birthday this year, was just home and hand rice and chicken. Birthday, not a big enough deal to celebrate, getting elite- party time! On my Badge Day- I went out to the Safehouse/ Republik/ Iron DJ Challenge/ DJ XL HipHop 101 Night with Bacardi. For $25- I got a great bacon burger, fries, a crafted cocktail, a whisky coke and a Bacardi shot.
I was happy. Good music and good food- can't go wrong. That is how you promote and make real fans for music.
Here is the middle ground for upcoming music artists. Once an artist is getting big enough to gain a fan base - he or she wants a venue that sounds professional and can charge a fair price to hear a professional performance instead of the back community center room within a church and having all of mom's friends ohh and ahh at how big he/she is. The stadium is too big for a new band/ small venues make it just not worth it at some point. Stepping up the professional game to a quality level is the way to pave success in the music industry and luckily we have a quality venue that promotes great music well.
Just making a comment based on another reviews comment. I too wondered why just after 1 show I was at that ended at about 10 pm- the lights turned on and everyone had to leave the Republik, my concert was over but it was different compared to the great shows I am used to in Chicago. It is a small venue compared to Red Rock or Alpine Valley or other stadium music venues. It is the biggest venue solely dedicated to music so I understand that they may have 2 different shows in 1 night. they are upfront that the ticket price for each show is different- so I would suppose that the onus is on me to ask someone more about that event night. I can also understand that they would not like to refund tickets- especially if you emailed the next day. If there was a hurricane warning and the City and County closed your neighborhood- I would argue that this case is beyond control and I would ask for a refund or a comparable ticket.
I'm not trying to be negative- just HI is very different, from Hawaiian time to things happen, time is different here in HI. My humble advice is go early, enjoy some happy hour specials- talk to the bar tender to get a feel for what the night will be like for the night or just up coming events, and be a little flexible. They are doing their best to promote their artists- that means making the fans coming back to support so go early and get an idea about expectations and then it will make future events that much better. My 2 cents. read more