I highly recommend you take a dose of Medicine for the People

Nahko and Medicine for the People

The date was Friday May 11, 2013 and we headed down the dark backcountry roads of Puna towards the Kalani Retreat Center to check out Nahko (means 'bear' in Apache tongue) and his band, Medicine for the People. Friends and acquaintances had been raving about them for ions and I had missed their show at the Palace months ago so this time I came prepared. I had bought my tickets almost a month in advance. And it was a good thing, too, as the tickets sold out nearly 2 weeks prior to them taking stage.

After talking way too much in the car, and being a bit dramatic to boot, we finally arrived at the venue. We parked and meandered our way up to the building where we were relieved of our belongings (my date generally carries a backpack with him everywhere he goes) and then ushered through a maze-like network of rooms (or maybe it just appeared that way due to the state of mind I was in)  which resembled tropical lobbies. Finally,  we arrived at the rear of the building where a room the size of a high school auditorium was located. There,  we were completely blown away by the most amazing musical feat either one of us had seen in a quite a while. Nahko Parayno ("Nahko Bear") delivered his message and music with finesse and passion, Hope drummed away like a wild tribal coyote woman and Max rang out his guitar hooks like only Max can. At the end of the band's stunning performance in which the adoring crowd sang along, danced and jumped up and down like pogo sticks, Nahko pitched out several free black colored CD's , his band's latest oevre, "Dark as Night." (The LP would be officially released about 2 weeks later.)  Alas, I should have brought my mitt as I caught none. OK, though. Easily downloadable off their website, www.nahko.com. My date and I had instantly become total MFTP converts.

Thomas, my boyfriend, had already been a huge Xavier Rudd fan (whom he has seen in concert on numerous occasions) so when MFTP did a cover of one of Xavier's songs shortly after we arrived, Thomas was smitten. But what would follow would really blow his mind. I think I was hooked when Nahko sang,  "All the shifting, shaping ways you can be.......Wake the dreams into realities…" [Budding Trees, "Dark as Night"]  and " What if you knew what you were for? And how you became so informed? Bodies of info, performing such miracles. I am a miracle, made up of particles and in this existence, I'll stay persistent and I'll make a difference…"  Then there was , "Come to teach, come to be taught, come in the likeness and the image of God, cuz you can be like that with all that humbleness and all that respect." There was also, "I cry for the creatures that are left behind but everything will change in the blink of an eye and if you want to survive, you will find the guide inside." [Aloha Ke Akua, "Dark as Night"]  How about "Every cell is transforming and returning to original concept to construct. And then I started to shapeshift and the animals within me grew tails and talons."  It was as if he was singing the songs of my soul, for God's sake. MFTP's  lyrics express joy, frustration, heartbreak, passion and anguish over the state of the world yet overall the tone is divine and hopeful, ushering people to take the medicine and then start making the movement move. Thomas was equally inspired by the music , the lyrics and just the general all around cool-ness of the band. The next few weeks after the concert, Thomas would be playing MFTP non-stop over and over again to the point where it even drove ME crazy. In the car, at the house, in his head, in his sleep………the man became utterly obsessed. 

But back to May 11th. We had arrived a bit late due to much talking in the car on the way over (it was something lolo in the air, I think) and we ended up finding our niche on the floor about halfway back. The band was already in full throttle and was amazing. No doubt the best band I have ever seen in our state in which at least one of the members claims Hawaii as their home. (=Nahko is a Hilo, Hawaii resident) He has a weirdly contradictory aura of both seriousness and fun around him ( a strange combination but yet he somehow pulls it off) and Nahko's physical appearance is riveting as he is mohawk- cool and exotically indian looking (which as it turns out is because he is part Apache, Phillipino, Puerto Rican , and Hawaiian!)  I have posted a link to his interesting and colorful life to the right. (please click for more information)

Fast  forward to 3 days later. Again, Nahko and Medicine for the People playing a concert, this time less formal (and FREE!)  and in the street in front of Dave's Hilo Bayfront Kava Bar. Dave is a bit of a local hero as he is the owner of the popular hipster watering hole for those seeking a brew with slightly tranquilizing qualities. He's always available for a chat behind the bar and who wouldn't want to 'talk story'  with this all around endearing and gregarious guy. Armed with a quick smile and fresh brewed hawaiian kava at the ready, the man has earned the nickname Kava Dave as well as countless friends. Also worth mentioning:  his homemade kava chocolate or scrumptious kava brownies with macadamia nuts are pretty incredible, too. (mmmmm!) Turns out Dave had been a major promoter of MFTP, giving them a place to play and plenty of coconut wireless advertising when they were relatively unknown 4 years ago. At current, the band is on tour with Xavier Rudd and globetrotting across the world packing stadiums, arenas and outdoor concert venues with thousands of people. 

But here I was, before all that eventuality, standing on our humble Hilo Bayfront street with hundreds and hundreds of …well….hippies…..and surfers and new-agers and freaks….all listening to Nahko play just about every song he has ever written. The musician, who is relatively small framed  but clearly packed with the energy and lean muscle of three men, played for five to six hours non-stop, the show finally winding down to it's conclusion at nearly 3am.  My personal favorites off "Dark As Night" are New Eyes, Aloha Ke Akua, Warrior People, Vulture of Culture (that one sounds somehow very Jack Johnson) , One in the Chamber, Risk It, Manifesto II, So Thankful and Budding Trees. I have a version of Budding Trees without the beginning dialogue of what my son calls "the drunk girl" which I actually prefer to the one on the album. (No offense, I just like the one without the dialogue better!)

Earlier that evening on Bayfront before the free magnanimous show was about to start, I bumped into Nahko and thanked him for his music and his incredible concert at Kalani. I thanked him for 'raising the goddess' which is not a term I have ever used to describe any other band's musicology but it is the best way that I can describe what MFTP does. It's why they are so important and why they are carrying a message that's on fire, like a burning scroll. Nahko was great. He was friendly, humble and complimented my leather fringe jacket vest. (it was new, so I was stoked that he noticed it!) My Dad, professor of theology and linguistics and die-hard Catholic, has always said the Immaculate Mother can be fierce , like Kali, although in European culture she is never depicted that way. She is depicted more like the demure, gentle mother who wears light blue and a Mona Lisa smile. I like to make the analogy, if I may, of say…. Mrs. Brady or perhaps Mrs. Cleaver. But the goddess has evolved just as we have. The Goddess is here. She is now. She is alive and she has thrown off her blue mantle. She's ready to rumble, folks, so get with it and belt out some of these songs and carry your torch high. Lend your ears, lend your hands, lend your movement, anything that you can.

Goddess Kali, she's on fire