Virginia-based reggae band SOJA continues a four-night Hawaii run Sunday with a return performance on Kauai, accompanied by Maui-born singer/songwriter Anuhea. Presented by BAMP Project and Tom Moffat, the 21 and over concert begins at 6 p.m. at Kilohana Pavilion
Virginia-based reggae band SOJA continues a four-night Hawaii run Sunday with a return performance on Kauai, accompanied by Maui-born singer/songwriter Anuhea.
Presented by BAMP Project and Tom Moffat, the 21 and over concert begins at 6 p.m. at Kilohana Pavilion in Puhi. Doors open at 5 p.m.
Jacob Hemphill, the band’s lead singer and guitarist, says he wants to speak up for people who don’t have a microphone.
“Our goal as a band is to stick up for the human race,” he said in a release. “We see the world and we try to make it better in the limited time we have here.”
This is the philosophy behind SOJA’s music — a blend of reggae, go-go, D.C. hardcore, Latin, rock and hip hop.
Over the last few years, SOJA has sold more than 200,000 albums, headlined large venues in more than 20 countries around the world, amassed millions of Facebook fans and attracted an international fanbase resembling that of the Grateful Dead, according to their online biography.
The seven-piece band is no stranger to Hawaii — or Kauai. In fact, the group was on island last year, as well as the year before.
The band has toured with Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, 311 and appeared at major festivals including Bonnaroo. After the release of their 2012 album, “Strength To Survive,” the musicians started writing material for what would become their fifth full-length album, “Amid the Noise and Haste,” according to a release.
For SOJA, whose live show is an explosion of energy and positivity, music is a means of helping people relate in a more affirmative way, according to a release for the event. The music is about finding that happiness and peace we all deserve and helping others do the same, something “Amid the Noise and Haste” aptly conveys in its songs.
“I put words in my songs that I believe to be true,” Hemphill said. “The point of the album is reconnecting people to the power inside themselves, getting them to fall back in love with life again. Look around, take a deep breath. All the answers are there.”
General admission tickets for Sunday’s performance are $35 in advance, $40 day of show, and can be purchased at Flavorus.com, Deja Vu Surf Hawaii (Kukui Grove), Rainbow Gas and Mini Mart (Kapaa), Pono Market (Kapaa), Healthy Hut (Kilauea), Kmart (Lihue) and Progressive Expressions (Koloa).
Kilohana Pavilion is at 3-2087 Kaumualii Highway in Puhi.
