The Atherton Studio

The Atherton Studio comes under the category of best kept secrets in Honolulu. I had never heard of this place before that's for sure. No one from Yelp had written a review either. But this is very nice performing arts venue. I am really pleased to have attended a concert here and discovered this hidden venue.Location: This is part of the Hawaii Public Radio Building which is located across the street from Don Quijote on Keheka St. There is no public parking for the small theater. But, there is lots of metered street parking in the area. You could also park at the FHB or PanAm buildings pay lots.Venue: Small sound insulated recital hall which is just large enough for 75 seats. It is equipped with a Bosendorfer grand piano and a professional sound booth. It's a very intimate space where musicians and audience feel very connected.Rehearsal And Recording: The theater can be rented by the hour for rehearsal and recording.Concert Series: HPR presents concerts nearly every Saturday night at 7:30 PM. See the HPR website for current schedule. All genre's seem to be scheduled including Blues, Hawaiian, Classical and more. $30 per ticket with proceeds benefitting HPR. http://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/content/atherton-studio-concerts-0Music Lovers: If you are looking for something different in the way of music and entertainment then look at the Atherton Studio's schedule. Don't hesitate to try this out!My experience: I attended a concert by a friend and his band. This was sort of an "unplugged" concert featuring all original folk rock music. All four band members are highly experienced and talented. This event almost sold out. The small setting allows the audience to feel like they are on stage with the performers. As I looked around the room the audience was paying 100% attention to every note played. There was a story which went with each original song. The audience loved feeling the close connection that came from the story telling. I'm sure this is true for all the other concerts that are presented here tooThere are a couple of Blues performers coming up soon. I'm going for sure!

Meaning to write about this experience for so long.....We went to see a local band and one of the band members that has a new solo album out and is on mainland tour.Showing up is super easy- if you know where Daie / Don Quiote is then you know where it is. We showed up super early- which was good that we got all of the ants out of the pnats of little miss 6 year old, she had her toy car and was able to play and play going around and meeting some other people and talking to them before the show. Really- the show time is about the show time that one has to show up for to get into the showroom studio, they did check in so quickly instead of taking a long time. Inside the studio when you get in is soooo coooooool, temp wise first off is what you notice and then you see the kit set up- which is cool how you know the show will be right there in front of you.The pianist was sitting just in the first row and we were in the second- he saw my little one playing with her little car toy and gave an 'eye' like is she going to make noises during the show- but said nothing- During the show - she was the most attentive little audience member! She was little miss little keiki when nothing was going on- but when a song ended- she was the loudest at clapping and played the most attention to all the instruments and noticed when they changed instruments for different sounds.Live bands can really bring an audience o attention or put them to sleep- this band we saw was good at bringing both a little bit of life and levity to what was a much older local crowd. It is a really different way to launch an album release- there are a few ideas and one live special small performance is definitely a crowd pleaser and a way to show gratitude to local family and friends for all the hard work in a production.The room itself has just normal chairs facing an open floor stage with a piano and speakers- so each band has to set up their kit to preform. It is a small room compared to other spaces- but it is a great room for audio.We'd sure love to hear other local live music anytime here.By the near end of the night- the temp in the room did get warm- many people in such a small area really did heat up the room. I could see not having 40-~50 people in it and it would stay cool for a good 3 hr set, but after 1 hour it gets warm with that many people.We parked on the street- but make sure you do read signs and don't get towed.

Although it is a small venue. The Mele Hawaii Series is excellent. We went to the Keauhou concert and enjoyed the music tremendously. All the ticket sales go directly to the musicians performing only. Mahalo for HPR in supporting our local musicians. A surprise was their Kumu Robert Cazimero was there to perform a few mele.