Cecilio and Kapono’s party of a lifetime

It seemed like half the entire island took a stroll down memory lane when the Hawaiian folk duo Cecilio and Kapono serenaded an enthralled audience last Friday night in a concert that celebrated the tandem’s 30 years of playing beautiful music together.

Cecilio and Kapono, already considered an institution in the Pacific’s music industry, brought the house down inside the Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach’s Hibiscus Hall, playing their classic hits that made the audience scream and beg for more.

At least a thousand fans packed the hall, bringing their friends and loved ones to witness the duo’s comeback concert on Saipan after two decades of absence. And after 30 years of playing together, the duo sure knew what to do to totally rock the crowd.

The duo did their usual interactive numbers where they asked the crowd to sing and dance with them. Kapono led the number where he divided the audience to sing some parts of a Messina and Loggins original Danny’s Song. The crowd stood up on their seat and sang the song at the top of their lungs. Kapono said he was very impressed with the cooperation of the audience.

Couples and friends graced the dance floor to dance to the duo’s upbeat tunes. The crowd went wild when the tandem sang their famous numbers, such as I Am the Other Man.

CNMI Arts Council director Robert Hunter said he was so excited to see the tandem return to the island after 20 years and that the concert brought back a lot of memories for him. He said he was very young when he last saw the two.

The duo said their lifelong story began under a starry night on Oahu ’s North Shore in February 1973. While on a break from a tour of the “Little Anthony and the Imperials,” Cecilio flew to Hawaii to meet Kapono whom he found had a similar style of music with his own. The two thought they could form a group because all the components were there: breathing, intonation, blending, and their own individual guitar styles, each one complementing the other in a harmonious way. Thus, “Cecilio & Kapono” was born.

Cecilio and Kapono became one of the top duos to come out of Hawaii and soon signed a multiple multi-awarded album deal with Columbia Records. They recorded albums all of which became top-selling albums.

Cecilio and Kapono’s music catalog include: Lifetime Party Vol. 2, Live at Kapono’s, Lifetime Party, The Journey Continues, Journey Through the Years, C&K Together Live, The First Noel, Good Times Together, Cecilio & Kapono, Elua, Night Music, and Summerlust. Cecilio and Kapono’s music were also included in several compilation albums such as Hawaii’s Golden Groups, Pick A Hit Hawai’i.

The C & K story and legacy lives on and has truly become a “Lifetime Party” as proven during the “30 Years of Friends” concert last Friday.

Miller Lite presented the concert. Other sponsors were Power99, Shell Marianas, Saipan Shipping Co., Hafatel, Dai-Ichi Hotels, Hertz, Tan Holdings Corp., Pepsi, and Aquarius Beach Tower Hotel.