all words: Andy Hess
all photos: Nicolas Eubanks
Here are some things I knew about Cale Parks and Lemonade going into this show at Comet Ping Pong:
- Cale Parks is classically trained.
- He is the multi-instrumentalist from Aloha.
- He is the current drummer in White Williams.
- He recently released this single and vampire-esque music video off of his new EP, To Swift Mars.
- Lemonade (the drink) is delicious.
- Lemonade (the band) released one of my favorite songs of 2008, "Big Weekend".
- Lemonade has the best URL to describe their sound: myspace.com/bananasandecstasy.
Now, to the review.
Sadly, due to my inability to tell time, I lost a good majority of Cale Parks' set during the commute. I've had a huge boner for minimal keys, block rockin' beats and loops lately so it really pains me to have missed so much. Luckily, I caught three and a half songs. But those three songs killed so I can't complain to much. Parks plays a blend of dream-pop with a dash of dub, but it's really exhausting to watch Parks perform. On stage he's constantly switching from analog instruments to keyboards and loops. It's hard not to get caught up in the spectacle rather than the music itself.
Other than the 10-15 minutes of technical difficulties before Lemonade's set, they were as near as perfect as the trio could have possibly been. Lemonade's tropical punk was a little too much for Comet's speakers at certain times, but it didn't matter. The band ran through a 30 minute set with out any signs of fatigue, playing single "Big Weekend" and other Pitchfork approved jams.
The crowd size was a huge detriment to both bands. There were roughly 20-25 people in there which is most likely the product of a Thursday night show. According to this Facebook thread, this happened last time Lemonade was in town playing Comet. I was going in there expecting a sweaty dance-floor in the back of an already awesome restaurant, but was greeted with the smallest show I've ever attended. But size didn't matter this time because Parks and Lemonade were playing to what seemed to be a room full of friends and family instead a show full of strangers.
Previously in Live DC:
- 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
- 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
- 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
- 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
- 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
- 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
- 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
God loves a cheerful giver.
Bummer, Ive been to several shows at Comet that were way smaller than they should have been. What about harnessing that local Fort Reno crowd to come out to these shows? There are lots of high-school hipster kids in that neighborhood...
Yeah, I was really surprised by the lack of people there. Disappointing.
I'm surprised BYT didn't promote this more given that the founder played! HELLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?
Since when is it BYT's job to promote other peoples shows, really? I mean they do, and it's great that they do, but they also do it for free. And as I recall there was a headline spread that was up for over a day - can't do much more than that, eh?
p.s. cale parks is not the cale that writes for byt
The show was great!!! And I think it is Comet's job to promote the show not BYT lol either way Cale Parks and Lemonade are both amazing!
I didn't mean to start a war of words regarding the show promotion. I was just calling it as I saw it.
And the show was great.