Music

Williwaw debuts new downtown concert venue with sunny sounds of Common Kings

For its dress rehearsal, the new Williwaw venue in downtown Anchorage will attempt to transport its audience to the Pacific Islands with a performance from Common Kings.

While the building won't likely be open in its entirety until early September, venue sales and marketing director Susynn Snyder said the performance portion is about ready.

"We're calling it a sneak peek of what it will be," Snyder said. "It will be open as a concert hall, not so much as a restaurant. (The show) will be on the Williwaw stage in the Williwaw concert hall, where most of the concerts will be."

Snyder said the Blues Central performance area and SteamDot are still not ready for the public, but save a few minor details, the concert venue and the roof, which will host the VIP area for the concert, are complete.

"As far as the concert, you'll see a mostly completed interior," she said. "The lighting is up, the bar is in place. The only thing you won't see is what the furniture will look like. The tables won't be installed."

Although nothing is official until building inspectors give final approval, Snyder said the main music venue will hold up to 750 people, possibly more.

The Common Kings performed last year at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium, and since that appearance opened for the Australia/New Zealand leg of Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" tour.

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The crew landed the gig after working with Timberlake producer Rob Knox.

"We had a couple sessions with (Knox)," said Common Kings lead singer Junyer King. Timberlake "knew he was working with us and Rob let him know 'these guys are legit.' We pretty much got hand-picked."

The shows offered massive exposure for the band, which has opened even more doors, including a tour with girl group Fifth Harmony.

"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said guitarist Mata Grey. "The first show was 30,000 people in Melbourne. You have to treat it like every other gig, but obviously it's not. Once the jitters calm down you just perform. It's given us so many opportunities to do more shows and meet more people."

The band calls its sound "feel-good music," taking the island heritage of most of the band members and stirring in other genres.

"We're Polynesian-looking but we have all different influences," King said. "Rock, hip-hop, flamenco, jazz, rock, R&B. We all come from different backgrounds, so we use all of those sounds and genres in our own."

Aside from the Williwaw gig, the band is also playing in Juneau and Fairbanks.

"We're super excited to come out to Alaska again," Grey said. "We really pride ourselves off our live performances. We like to give people an experience. We always like to have a good time. If the audience sees we're having a good time, they will as well."

Common Kings

With H3

Where: Williwaw, 609 F St.

When: Doors open at 8 p.m. Thursday, July 30

Tickets: $35-$75 at etix.com

Chris Bieri

Chris Bieri is the sports and entertainment editor at the Anchorage Daily News.

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