Post #579596 by JOHN-O on Wed, Mar 9, 2011 3:34 PM

C'mon Lucas, the state of Tiki in the 21st-century is pretty darn good.

We have the "new" Don the Beachcomber, the "new" Tonga Hut, Tiki No, Trader Vic's DTLA (it could be improved, but the fact that it exists is promising), Frankie's Tiki Room, Forbidden Island, and Smuggler's Cove (a great superset of Tiki). I'm REALLY hopeful and looking forward to the "Tiki" lounge being built on the 3rd-floor of Clifton's Cafeteria which I expect will be a faithful homage to the pre-Tiki Clifton's Pacific Seas. It doesn't get any more old-school cool than that.

Also the New Cocktailian mixology boom is really blowing up, and how about the music? We have classic Exotica bands like Tikiyaki Orchestra and Martini Kings, and bands that have invented their own Tiki genres like Hula Girls and Ding Dong Devils. If "mainstream" events like Tiki Oasis seem to be getting too large for some people, then more smaller and more specialized events like Mojave Oasis take off. And I won't even get into the art.

Who cares what the general public's perception of Tiki is, when we (the purists?) can have our own private Tiki sandbox to play in? And that's what I think exists right now.

Yes it is sad to lose Beverly Hills Trader Vic's and (eventually) the Tonga Room, but net net don't you think Tiki culture is in better shape now than 10 years ago.

I know that "Party City" and Parrot Head Tiki horrifies you, but to me it just provides a great laugh. It's kind of like in the Punk Rock days, we were horrified by bands like ELO, Foreigner, Genesis, etc. Now that music is just great cheesy nostalgic fun.

(Hmm... Actually have we had this conversation before? I'm getting a sense of deja vu in writing it. Gotta love the circular arguments of TC).

Sorry Cammo for the derail, but the thread is winding down. Great job BTW.

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-03-09 15:41 ]