Open Stage Showcase Plagued by Facebook Issues

March 28, 2021 • Addison Ching • Festivals and Conventions

The first Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase Open Stage Showcase livestream broadcast was plagued by upload issues. Facebook continually rejected the live video stream upload which resulted in numerous "Live Stream Interrupted" messages. The broadcast was finally discontinued after it was determined that the problem could not be resolved after several attempts by the event's broadcaster.

There were reports of other livestream events experiencing difficulty at the time so it is not known if this was an Internet issue or a Facebook issue.

As with every livestream broadcast, a local copy of the broadcast is simultaneously generated. This local broadcast copy was eventually uploaded to Facebook and is now available in the Videos section of the showcase's Facebook page.

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The Open Stage Showcase featured steel guitarists from Hawai‘i, several US states, and several foreign countries including England, Australia, and Japan. The list of presenters included:

From Hawai‘i: NextGen Ethan Goore, NextGen Joey Misailidis, NextGen Tai Misailidis, Vickie Van Fechtmann (Hawai‘i Island), Jess Montgomery (Kaua‘i), Chuck Moore (Hawai‘i Island)

From US: NextGen Justin Firmeza (California), Peter Garellick and Haopinaka (California), Nic Neufield (Missouri), Steve Tylka (Tennessee), Chuck Hughes (Florida), Joe Stewart (Colorado), Aaron Benolkin (Alaska)

From the world: Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi (Japan), Lion Ladies Steel Guitar Ensemble (Japan), Shuji and Noriko Tomita (Japan), Shinichi and Kumiko Kakiuchi (Japan), Hideki Hattori (Japan), Paul Agar (Australia), David Fisher (England), Valére Martin (France)

Michael Keale and Aaron Benolkin - "Mapuana"

Joey Misailidis and Patti Maxine - "Steel Guitar Rag"

Some special surprises included special guest vocalist Michael Keale appearing with Aaron Benolkin, a steel guitar duet by Joey Misailidis and steel guitarist Patti Maxine, a steel guitar duet by Tai Misailidis and Bobby Ingano, and Tai Misailidis playing all instruments for her backup. Haopinaka provided a visit to the past with a sepia-toned video characteristic of an old film. French steel guitarist Valére Martin was in Honolulu and recorded his presentation at the Ke Kula Mele School of Hawaiian Music. Valére was accompanied by Alan Akaka on the steel guitar.

Bobby Ingano and Tai Misailidis - "Sleepwalk"

Haopinaka's sepia old-time movie - "‘Ulukalapua"

Submitted videos were processed and edited by HIMELE Director Nate Goore who also created the introductory slides and broadcast segments. The segments were then provided to the broadcaster Huana Productions LLC for livestreaming.

Future Open Stage Showcases are planned. If you would like to participate, please see the Showcase website page for participation information and requirements.