A Musical Getaway For Your Weekday

Hip-hop collective Super Groupers performed recently at Mori's Live Sessions ANTON GLAMB PHOTO

Hip-hop collective Super Groupers performed recently at Mori’s Live Sessions ANTON GLAMB PHOTO

Art + Flea’s Mori shop in Ward Village is a unique boutique that features locally produced fashion, art and jewelry. Since opening about a year ago, it’s managed to build a bit of a sense of community out of the storefront. One thing that has made it feel like so much more than just a shop has been its Live Sessions events — which have been happening more and more frequently over the past couple of months.

Last week, the store hosted the album release party for Super Groupers’ Learn To Swim album. If you haven’t heard of Super Groupers, they’ve been around for a minute with Illis It and Navid Najafi up front on the mics and producer Scott Ohtoro behind the scenes on the beats.

The atmosphere at Mori, with the pristine modern look of the space, made the Super Groupers feel like some kind of special treasure rather than a badass group of hard rappers. I was taking a brief study break to check their set out and hadn’t had any liquid social lubricant, aka alcohol. If people were drinking, they were doing it on the sly because the show and attention was actually 100 percent focused on the group doing their thing, rather than the bar.

Taking the performance out of the typical nightlife setting brought a more intense focus on the music, which was totally refreshing. However, I can be a little shy without at least a couple sips in me, and so coming straight from the library left me a little more awkward than normal. I had arrived kind of late and still had a ton of work to do, so I wasn’t completely upset that I only caught the last few songs. But that’s exactly what’s great about these shows at Mori — they are a real treat for people who have a busy weekday schedule and can’t turn up like every day is Saturday. I was glad to slip a little music into my week, and I left ready to face the rest of it, proud of my friends and the work they put in on their latest album.

The next big thing coming up at Mori is P∆G∑’s Halloween-themed performance Oct. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. P∆G∑ is a super tight group with Emily Sewell on vocals, Paul Bajcar on lead guitar, Amrik Shidhu on bass and Grant Na’auao on drums. They’re all veteran rockers who came together to create experimental dream-rock sounds that take you on a story-driven ride.

It’s perfectly dark, mysterious and haunting music for the season, with a little bit of kick to bring out the ghoul in you. People will be dressed up, so wear your best spooky mask.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND UPDATES, VISIT MORIHAWAII.COM FACEBOOK.COM/ANTONGLAMBMUSIC