Last weekend I was in Portland for Tiki Kon 2016. This was my fifth consecutive year and it has been great to see it continue to grow. I even met a couple from here in Missouri. I love to meet and spend time with the tiki crowd, they are good people. My goal is to make it down to Tiki Oasis next year. That is still the biggest Tiki culture gathering that I know of.
So, this got me to thinking; why is there still such a following? As I looked around Tiki Kon there were few if any millennials. The crowd was mostly Gen X or Boomers. Is this because we are still living the "dream of the 90s"? There was the big lounge and exotica music revival in the mid-nineties and that is how most of us became interested in tiki I'm sure. I know that was the case for me. Yet 20 years later here we all still are, when many other fads have fallen by the wayside. Why is that? I think the retro revival really tapped into something in parts of my generation. Something that we are missing today. A simpler life? A more civil society? Pure escapism? Maybe all of that and more- or maybe it's just the self mocking kitsch factor, but I doubt you would still have so many that are still involved in the subculture if that was all it was. Speaking only for myself, the appeal is an idealized mid-century society where people are polite and sincere. A quieter world. A world were there is still romance and mystery. The exact opposite of the times we find ourselves in now, filled with hate, fear and vulgarity.
That may be why we are having another Polynesian pop revival now. I have read about several new 'real' tiki bars opening within just the last year or so. Maybe some of the younger generation are getting fed up with the increasingly loud and violent world of today and are looking for a quiet paradise amid the maelstrom. I say, "Aloha and welcome my young friends." We have cool, dark lounges with soft music and delicious drinks. What's not to love?
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