Fremont Street Experience Hosts Free Shaggy Concert and Luau

By Scott Roeben, on June 06 2022
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Just when you thought Fremont Street Experience had blown its entertainment budget on the Downtown Rocks concert series, another freebie has been announced.

On June 11, 2022, Fremont Street Experience will host the first Luau Wow Festival. The luau-themed event will start at noon, and the first 3,000 guests will get a lei.

Nothing screams “luau” like a free concert by Shaggy! The reggae performer will hit the stage for a free show at 9:00 p.m.

Why is Shaggy playing at a luau? First rule of Fremont Street: Drunk people DGAF.

Here’s a little reminder of Shaggy’s lyrical poetry.


 

The Luau Wow Festival is described as “the authentic luau experience.” We grew up in Hawaii, so we’re fairly confident Fremont Street Experience is using the word “authentic” very loosely.

That said, the luau will include live entertainment throughout the day, food, art and “more Hawaiian fun.”

If you know, you know. While it’s not Matsumoto’s, Lappert’s at The Cal has some awesome “shave ice.”

Hawaiian-themed entertainment will include performances by two local acts, HaleAmanO and The BC project.

Our most recent visit to Hawaii included us wondering when you are going to grow up.

Luau Wow will also feature an island-themed show, “Blue Hawaii,” with singers, hula dancers, drum troops, acrobatics, comedy and an Elvis impersonator.

Related: Some boneheads recently told Las Vegas wedding chapels they were clamping down on ceremonies using Elvis impersonators. The kerfuffle was quickly squashed when the boneheads (sorry, “guardians of the Elvis Presley legacy”) walked back their boneheadery.

The fun continues at the Luau Wow Festival: Guests will also see haka and belly dancers, fire walkers and fire eaters and a sandcastle artist who will build a monument to the transitory nature of the universe.

When you search your hard drive for “hula dancers” and get this photo from Ellis Island’s pop-up tiki bar.

There will also be face painters, traditional Hawaiian tattoo artists, photo ops and a pig roast.

From our experiences in Hawaii, we can confirm luaus don’t end well for pigs.

The luau will also include a re-enactment of Captain James Cook “discovering” Hawaii and giving everyone gonorrhoea and syphilis. Not really, but that would be hilarious.

It’s a popular myth Hawaiians ate Captain Cook. Untrue, but many still celebrate “Happy Death of Captain Cook” Day every year on February 14.

Captain Cook’s final words? “It wasn’t me!” See how it all ties together?

To make downtown’s Luau Wow event additionally interactive, guests are encouraged to wear Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts, coconut bras or other island-themed accoutrement.

It’s hard to beat free, and we’re always up for some okole-shaking on Fremont Street.