Fujirockers: The official Fuji Rock Festival blog

Every year we of the Fujirockers.org e-team try have our own internal poll for *the most fun band* of the festival, and in the early running, it already looks like the Narasirato Pan Pipers are about two lengths ahead. Performances by this group of Solomon islanders – there have been two already and there are several more to come – are almost like an episode of Gilligan’s Island with Earth Wind and Fire playing the neighboring tribe at the big luau celebration. They play bamboo pan pipes the likes of which we’ve never seen, they dance like 70s funk bands or maybe the New Zealand All-Blacks before a match, and the songs they play are mix island drumming with happy feet rhythms that sometimes quote Western rock ‘n roll. Infectious? Hell yeah, they’re infectious! After their gig this afternoon on the Boardwalk stage, I managed to chat with a couple of extremely friendly band members. Here’s their story…

First of all, Solomon Islanders speak English and most have American names. I met one of the pipers, Jimmy, after their gig this afternoon on the Boardwalk Stage, and though it was perfect to see them in the trees, their throwdown set on opening night got the word out and created a serious traffic jam on a stage that, after all, is on a boardwalk. Anyway, Jimmy handed me a Solomon Islands tourism brochure and pointed to a point on the southwest coast of Malaita Island, smiling and saying, “That’s where we live.” It’s a small island about 400 miles east of Papau New Guineau or 1000 miles east of northern Australia, and their village of Oterama is accessible only by boat or by foot. Everyone in the village knows how to play, sing and dance, but they have also established a semi-professional troupe that tours to international festivals and events. They are now at Fuji Rock because FRF’s Jason Mayall discovered them at a music festival in Melbourne, Australia last year. Much of the money they earn here will go to pay for a cultural center in their village, and to this end, Mr. Mayall auctioned off a signed CD for ¥5,500 following the Boardwalk set.

If anything, the group’s members are terminally friendly, all of them reaching out to shake hands, introduce themselves and display a bit of their island hospitality. Their manager, John Huanihau, is also a manager of corporate services and human resources at the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands.

The instruments they play are absolutely unique. “You can call them all pan pipes,” says Jimmy. All are made of bamboo, from 20-odd finger-sized tubes of the treble au rokoroko pipes to the low register au rerepi pipes. These last look like a battery of about 15 digeridoos fastened together in two rows, and the players set them on stands and move rapidly across them – the puffing effect is sometimes digeridoo-like and sometimes like jug-blowing. In addition, there’s the auni mako, another battery of bass pipes, but these are played like drums, and the “drumsticks” are actually big club-shaped pieces of foam.

The Narasirato Pan Pipers have several gigs left:
tonight 00:45 – Crystal Palace Tent
Sat. 12:40 – Orange Court
Sat. 19:30 – Gypsy Avalon

and maybe a couple impromptu gigs as well… keep an eye out! And remember, they’re not earning money to foster their egos, they’re supporting a tiny village in the middle of the South Pacific. And if you see them perform, there is no way you can fail to have a good time!

Check the Narasirato Pan Pipers Official Web Site

See the Fujirockers.org photo report