REMEMBER the days when the local music scene was completely live.
In the ’60s and ’70s, every band featured a human being seated behind the drums, a bass player pounded out the low notes, keyboardists tinkled the ebony and ivory with finesse and the stars of the nightly shows were long-haired denim and leather clad guitarists whose riffs sent the females into a frenzy while their male counterparts cowered in the shadows trying to commit to memory chord shapes and guitar lines.
While bands like the Dragon Swingers oozed out jazz, soul and rhythm and blues, groups like Maxi’s Mules, Sangfroid Ride, Maroc 5 and others belted out pure unadulterated rock.
Before the advent of deejays and programmable keyboards, live bands performed the music of Deep Purple, Jimmy Hendrix, Led Zepplin and The Who.
On Saturday July 18, music lovers in the Capital City can relive those moments again when former Maxi’s Mules lead guitarist Maxi Columbus, jazz fusion player Robert Verma, former Ulysses fret-master Bobby Blue and youngster Adrian Narayan come together to raise funds for the child protection program of Medical Services Pacific — a Fiji-based rights agency that works to ensure women and adolescents have access to quality and professional health services.
Columbus, who now lives in the United States, came up with the idea and got together with Aneil and Eni Kumar from Suva-based corporate band Déjà Vu, and Darlene Underwood from Pacific Coast Events & Promotions, to get the show in motion.
In the ’70s, Columbus was regarded as a rock-god due to his guitar wizardry using effects like overdrive and fuzz boxes.
Bobby Shankaran, better known as Bobby Blue, was the lead guitarist of renowned group Ulysses in the ’80s and his jazzy guitar riffs mixed up with funky guitar lines brought him fame and some fortune as a youngster before he migrated to Australia in the late ’80s.
Columbus formed Maxi’s Mules in 1970. A relatively unknown band at the time, the Toorak quartet of Columbus, drummer Michael Wong, bassist Maciu Bose and Manoa ‘Twistie’ Sagutu entered the Battle of the Bands in 1970 and stole the limelight from seasoned acts like Them Insex, Quintikis, Weeping Souls, Sangfroid Ride, Tremilords, Kal-Q-Lated-Risk, Maroc-5 and Highway 69.
Later the group became the resident band at the Bali Hai nightclub and Columbus even enjoyed a brief stint at the renowned mecca for live music in the ’70s, the Golden Dragon.
For Columbus, coming back to Fiji to support a worthy cause had always been on the cards.
“I might live in the US but Fiji will always be home for me and I had been looking for something to do for the people of Fiji,” the 63-year-old guitarist shared.
“And this show is a benefit for an organisation that helps destitute women and children and I will do anything for the kids and I do it willingly and free-of-charge.”
Maxi paid a brief visit to the country last year and caught up with family and friends. Among them was former Ulysses drummer, Aneil Kumar.
“Maxi came up with the idea to do something for the most vulnerable in society and that’s how things began moving,” Kumar shared.
“The G4 Tour Benefit Concert 2015 is about guitarists and music artists, ex-Fiji residents and locals, coming together to present a memorable event in the name of charity.
“Although musicians and groups have put up shows for charity, what we’re doing here has never been done before.
“Women and girls are the most vulnerable in our society and we thought what better way to do our bit then to use our god-gifted talents to raise money for an organisation that is doing some remarkable work in this area.
“I urge people to come out to the Royal Suva Yacht Club, not only to support a good cause but also to witness something unique and to experience something that is not likely to be seen again.
“Having people like Maxi, Bobby, Robert and Adrian perform together in one show will be an amazing experience.”
Kumar said the show would also feature other guest guitar players and supporting artists like his wife, Eni Sewale-Kumar, former Sangfroid Ride lead vocalist Jimi Nathu, who now resides in New Zealand and Ken Janson.
“We will also have people like Julian Hodgens, an Australian flautist and we will showcase someone we regard as Fiji’s answer to Michael Buble, Michael Ram.
“He is an extraordinary vocalist and guitar artist that we believe will have an amazing career ahead of him.”
For Kumar, the G4 Tour Benefit show will let him relive the music he grew up with in Toorak in an era when live bands were many and concerts were a regular event.
Back then, live music was the only form of entertainment and it was not uncommon to see groups of young boys huddled under streetlights trading guitar chords and riffs of their favourite songs from bands like the Doobie Brothers, Credence Clearwater Revival and many others.
He joined Ulysses as a drummer in the ’70s and has never looked back since. His wife, Eni Kumar, is held in high regard as one of the country’s eminent vocalists of all time.
Their band, Déjà Vu will also feature at the benefit concert.
Columbus will be accompanied by a film crew from Guno Films in the US, under the direction of his son, Mark Columbus. The production crew is filming a documentary of Columbus’ musical past in Fiji and the final scenes will end with his performance at the G4 Tour Benefit Concert 2015.
“This visit is also memorable for me because I am also coming to visit my former Maxi’s Mules band mates Ratulevu Sorovaki.
“Ratulevu was a guitarist and then he became my bass player and he was an awesome musician.
“Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke a while ago but he is recovering slowly through physical therapy and to cheer him up, I bought a brand new five-string bass guitar down from the US and together with Matereti and Simi, we’ll present this to him when I get there.”
If you love live music and the songs that were popular in the ’70s and ’80s then you simply cannot afford to miss the G4 Tour Benefit concert at the Royal Suva Yacht Club on Saturday July 18.
You’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t.
