Saying goodbye to a 400 Block mainstay

Unity to me was synonymous with the Concerts on the Square series — but now Pita is gone

Unity as a band hadn’t been there from the very beginning. Neither was I.

When I really started paying much attention to the Concerts on the Square series is when I came back to Wausau in 2014 to work at City Pages.

At that point, Unity, with its charismatic lead singer Pita, had already been playing the series for years. Their shows guaranteed a packed audience. Some people gave series founder Tammy Stezenski flak for booking some of the same bands year after year; but some of them should be. Unity was one of them. (Wiffee and the Husband was another - they were a great act to kick off the series every summer.)

I would like seeing them on the schedule for the next week because one thing I observed from shooting many of these shows as a photographer: Some people just don’t know what to do with all that stage space. Unity didn’t have that problem. They were a joy to shoot, and Pita would always bring his whole self to the stage. It made it fund to photograph.

A series that’s starting to see enthusiasm dwindle can’t afford to lose Unity. Wiffee is no longer around. CopperBox and Brass Differential seem to be the last of those yearly returnees. (Unity is still on the schedule online now, by the way.)

But reading Devon Welsh’s story on Pita, who lost his battle with cancer this year, taught me some things about him that I didn’t know. The stories he collected caught my attention. Pita really touched people around here. He made connections with people. With his music, sure, but just on a personal level too.

I at first expected a short story. It turned into a long one. Because there is that much to say.

Pita wasn’t even from here. But his presence here was that strong that I couldn’t turn on social media without someone sharing another story about him.

So enjoy Devon Welsh’s story. It’s worth a read, and why I am running it here as well. You might shed a tear. I came close.

---

The single word underlying the memories of those who knew Kai “Pita” Kotobalavu is love. He loved people, he loved music, and he preached a message of love to the many who listened. All these loves came together in his band Unity, with whom he continued to perform even into the final weeks of his struggle with cancer. 

Many readers may be familiar with Pita and Unity– they performed every year Concerts on the Square beginning in 2009, as well at the old Scott Street Steak and Pub, Malarkey’s Pub, among other local venues. Kotobalavu died in January at age 55, nearly two years after being diagnosed with colon cancer. As many Wausau residents mourn his passing, they reflect on the impact Pita had on the community.

Unity and Pita - mainstay of the Wausau music scene

Pita was making music, banging on a pair of conga drums at a house party after a show. That is how Tyler Vogt remembers first meeting Pita. Vogt would go to see Unity whenever they played in Wausau, mostly at the Scott Street Pub, which was the hub for the local music scene at the time. When that venue closed down in 2007, Vogt opened Malarkey’s Pub only a few months later. He began booking Unity immediately.

“Every show was well attended,” Vogt said. “People showed up to shake his hand as much as to listen to the music.” Audiences connected with something beyond the music. It was the energy and positive outlook that Pita brought to every show, Vogt told me. He filled a room with excitement for life, and who doesn’t want to feel that too? “Some people just have it maybe,” Vogt said of Kotobalavu. “He was a dreamer and a leader, just a remarkable person.”

Vogt described to me the evolution of Unity’s sound over the years. In the earlier days of the band the style was closer to classic reggae. But as time went on, the focus turned to the energy of the band as they covered a range of musical styles, both covers and original songs. Vogt said that the show would often take on the energy of the crowd. “They might play a cruise ship standard like ‘Hot, Hot, Hot’ or a Peter Tosh song for reggae fans,” said Vogt. “They might play a Police song and turn it into a backbeat reggae jam, they might play Pink Floyd.” Pita would even sometimes break into improvised dancehall vocals — it all depended on the energy of the night.

The composition of Unity’s sound may be due in no small part to the different influences Pita had growing up. He was born in Suva City, the capital of the Fiji Islands, where he learned music by singing traditional Fijian songs. It was his exposure to his uncle’s band The Blue Ribbon and to the album Soul Rebel by Bob Marley & The Wailers that inspired him to pursue his own music. Kotobalavu felt that the beat of reggae was similar to that of Fiji’s music. After the 1987 coups in Fiji, Kotobalavu then moved to Hawaii in 1988 where he played in a number of different bands. In 2002, he moved to the Fox Cities area of Wisconsin and started Unity the same year. The sound of Unity brought together the Pacific Islander musical influences with the Jamaican reggae tradition to create something that reflected Pita’s own journey.

Tami Braun, a special education paraprofessional, first saw Unity at the urging of her mother. Braun’s mom had just seen the band play at the 400 Block, and she insisted that Braun join her to see them play again that evening at Malarkey’s Pub. She loved the show and met Pita briefly between sets. Since she had her own photography business at the time, she gave him her business card and offered to take photos of the band. Braun went to see the band when they were playing in the area, taking photos that Pita would put up on the Unity website. This relationship turned into a close friendship over the years.

One time Braun got a call from Pita. The band’s van had broken down on the way to a show in Michigan that they were scheduled to play in the afternoon before turning around and playing at a yacht club in Lacrosse later that evening. There was no time for the Michigan show, and they needed to borrow Braun’s car to get everyone to Lacrosse in time. Braun obliged, riding with the band to the club and arriving just in time to perform. “They were pulling their trailer with my car and it was just so much fun,” Braun said. “They called me their band manager so I’d have an official title when we arrived at the club.”

A couple of years later, Braun found herself in hospice with her mother on Christmas Eve, months after her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She decided to call Kotobalavu, and he stayed on the phone with her for over two hours, giving Braun emotional support and perspective in a very difficult time. “He was so true. I’ve never met such a genuine person in my life,” she said.

Wausau Concerts on the Square

Unity was one of the few acts that Tammy Stezenski booked every single year for Concerts on the Square, the summer concert series she founded in 1993 as City Pages’ founder and publisher, and organized for decades. She first booked them in 2009 after Tyler Vogt connected her to Pita. They had agreed on a five or six-piece band, but Pita was so excited to be playing that he brought a much bigger ensemble that included a horn section. They performed and blew everybody away. After that, Unity’s presence in Wausau during the summer was guaranteed. “[Pita] was so professional, so honest and such a good guy. I really loved working with him,” said Stezenski. “And I bet if you talk to any other promoter or bar owner, they would say the same thing.”

In many ways, Unity set the tone for Concerts on the Square. They were one of the first bands who made a real effort to engage with the kids in the crowd. Pita often brought children onstage to have them play drums or do sing-alongs with them, Stezenski told me. Braun also emphasized how powerful it was to see Pita’s focus on the children at the 400 Block concerts. “I think that’s part of what drew the people, was his compassion for the children,” Braun told me. “He’d say, ‘that’s our future standing right in front of me!’” She told me that Pita wouldn’t just bring a couple of kids onstage, he would bring up every kid in the audience who wanted to join in. He wanted to make sure that he didn’t leave anyone out.

But even more importantly, Unity brought a style of music to Wausau its residents hadn’t often heard, and enlivened the community in the process. “If you asked people, they always said that Unity was one of the highlights [of the concert series],” said Stezenski. “That would be the concert they can’t miss, the reggae in the summer.” The 400 Block concerts may have brought something special out of Unity as well. Braun saw Unity perform all over Wisconsin over a period of years, but it was her opinion that the Concert on the Square performances were the best she ever saw.

Stezenski recalls times when Pita and the band would get inspired by the music and go well over their scheduled set time. “Pita was a very religious man,” Stezenski told me. Unity shows would sometimes break into an impromptu worship, where Pita and the audience would feed off one another’s energy. “I’d be in front of the stage saying, ‘cut it off, cut it off,’” Stezenski said, laughing. “and he would just ignore me, so I’d have to chase him down.” I asked her what religious message it was that Pita preached, and she responded immediately: “Love. Love one another.”

A last fill in

John Altenburgh, a jazz musician and leader of Johnny & The MoTones, fondly remembered his experience with Kotobalavu and Unity. He got a phone call in June 2022 from someone who told him Unity was desperate for a musician to fill in on keyboards at a show in Manitowish Waters, and asked if he was available. Altenburgh told them he had never played reggae music in his life, but they reassured him it would be fine. The gig was in three hours and it was a two-hour drive, so he got in the car and arrived just in time.

Someone handed Altenburgh the set list. He looked it over and said he didn’t know any of the songs. Then Pita came over to him very calmly and said, “John, we’ll help you, and we’ll be just fine.” Being an experienced musician, Altenburgh figured it out on the fly, and the show went off without a hitch. A few songs in, Pita came over behind Altenburgh and gave him a big hug while they were in the middle of a song. “Who does that, right?” ask Altenburgh. It was his first experience of Pita’s positive energy and compassion.

After the show, he noticed Pita wasn’t helping to pack up and load the gear with the rest of the band. Well, he’s the leader of the band, he figured. It was only later when he realized that not only did Pita have cancer, he had just gotten out of chemo treatment the morning before the show. “Who does that?” ask edAltenburgh rhetorically. “Nobody. And that’s what he did all the time, right till the bitter end. I had never experienced anything like it, and I instantly fell in love with the guy.” When Altenburgh found out Pita had cancer, he was reluctant to accept payment for the final few shows they played together. “I told him to just keep the money,” he said. “Then I find out he’s taken that money and donated it to somebody else! But that’s just the kind of guy he was.”

Pita was diagnosed with cancer in June 2022, but Unity continued a busy touring schedule, performing 125 shows in 2023 alone. Stezenski recalled the last time she saw him perform at Concerts on the Square in Wausau. She watched from the side of the stage as Unity played, and it was clear that Pita was tired. He’d had chemotherapy treatment only hours before the show, so he would play a few songs and then sit down for a little while. At one point he apologized to the crowd for not going as hard as he normally would, and explained that he had cancer but was working hard on beating it.

At one point Pita had to sit down while the band played, and he looked over at Tammy with tired eyes and gave her a slight smile. In that moment she knew he needed a hug. “I just ran up and just gave him a great big hug and held him tight and I just told him how much, you know, everybody loved him and loved seeing him. And I thanked him,” she said.

Pita performed his last show with Unity on New Years Eve 2023 in Sister Bay, only three weeks before he died. “I’m proud to think about that,” Tyler Vogt said tearfully, reflecting on Pita’s devotion to music. I asked him what Pita might say to comfort those whose who are mourning his passing. “It would just be something as simple as ‘keep trying and keep going’,” Vogt told me. “COVID didn't stop him, cancer didn't stop him; he was like a force of positivity, just always moving forward.”

---

Want to keep up with the story? Subscribe to The Wausonian to get all the updates on local news. And, consider a paid subscription to help support local journalism, keep local leaders honest and to see everything The Wausonian reports on.

Already a paid subscriber? Use this referral link and earn credit toward your subscription when people sign up through your unique link, using the button below.