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Eyelids performs to a standing-room crowd at Comet Ping Pong, March 26, 2022. (Photo by Ari Strauss)
Northwest DC’s beloved pizzeria and concert, Comet Ping Pong, recently hosted Eyelids, the beloved Pacific Northwest power-pop group currently on tour to promote The Accidental Falls, the band’s most recent album which released via Jealous Butcher Records in 2020. I was there to photograph the show!
Eyelids perform at Black Cat on Nov. 19, 2017. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)
The last time Parklife DC talked to Chris Slusarenko of Eyelids was back in February 2019. At the time, Eyelids had started a musical project with Larry Beckett, famed poet and lyricist for singer songwriter Tim Buckley, slated to become “The Accidental Falls” (Jealous Butcher Records). Released at the beginning of 2020, the band was on the verge of mounting an extensive tour in support of the new album when the world shut down. We all know what happened next: tours were canceled, music venues shut down, and audiences went into isolation.
Now as music venues open and audiences return, Eyelids is once again heading out on the road, this time with a new bandmember and a renewed sense of gratitude, awareness, and optimism. After the stress and chaos we’re experienced since March of 2020, most of us have come to appreciate just how precious is the gift of music, and the joy of live performance — a feeling not lost on Eyelids’ members. In addition to Chris, we also had the pleasure of speaking with guitarist John Moen and new bass player Victor Krummenacher (Monks of Doom, Camper Van Beethoven).
Mark Caicedo of Parklife DC caught up with Chris Slusarenko, John Moen, and Victor Krummenacher of Portland-based power pop band Eyelids, prior to the group’s performance at Comet Ping Pong on Saturday, March 26!
Aminé performs at The Fillmore Silver Spring on March 2, 2022. (Photo by AJ Waugh)
Portland powerhouse Aminé’s The Best Tour Ever blew the doors off The Fillmore Silver Spring recently, selling out the venue out even on a Wednesday night. The energy was high from the first moment with opening performances from 454 and Cochise getting the crowd moving. After the openers, curtains were pulled back to reveal the stage and all the pieces of home Amine brought on tour with him, including an 8-foot tall statue of his labradoodle, Oliver.
John Craigie performs at DC’s Union Stage on Oct. 6, 2021. (Photo by Casey Vock)
Standing on stage as a performing musician is likely daunting enough for anyone who is brave enough to put themselves out there. Imagine also tasking yourself with trying to earnestly engage and entertain an audience in between each and every song?
It’s a lesser-embraced style these days, but there’s one gentleman who has built his reputation and his career on the same kind of performances as those that defined the careers of the most famous proponents of the talking blues, men like Woodie Guthrie decades ago, and maybe someone like a Todd Snyder these days. That man is John Craigie, and he brought that style to Union Stage recently.
Modest Mouse (Photo by James Joiner)
In June, Modest Mouse returned with their first new album in six years. Their anxiously awaited seventh full-length, The Golden Casket, is out via Epic Records.
Modest Mouse has embarked on a tour to support the new album, and the band performs at The Anthem in DC on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
Japanese Breakfast (Photo by Peter Ash Lee)
Japanese Breakfast, the alt-pop project of Michelle Zauner, released its third album, Jubilee, on June 4, via Dead Oceans. The album arrived on the heels of Michelle’s memoir, Crying in H Mart, which was published on April 20.
Now, Japanese Breakfast performs at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Wednesday, July 21, and there are a few tickets remaining for this must-see concert.
Joseph (Photo by Louis Browne)
Pop-rock sister trio Joseph “use harmony like an emotional conveyor belt” (so says Paste), and they are sure to fill your home with harmony during a three-show run via NoonChorus on Thursday, Oct. 8, Friday, Oct. 9, and Saturday, Oct. 10, with each night dedicated to a different album by the band.
Fruition performs live (Photo courtesy Partisan Arts)
For 13 years, Portland band Fruition has been playing Americana that looks back to great bands of the ’60s and ’70s while being wholly contemporary. Influenced by the Beatles and Crosby, Stills, and Nash, Fruition splits its lead vocals amongst Jay Cobb, Kellen Asebroek, and Mimi Naja, and they feature fantastic three-part harmonies. Their remarkable chemistry was on display at Union Stage in DC recently.
Fruition (Photo courtesy IPVR)
Fruition is a Portland, Oregon-based roots rock/Americana quintet whose style incorporates folk, bluegrass, and soul. Formed in 2008, they’ve released three LPs, most recently Watching It All Fall Apart. Their latest releases are a pair of EPs, Wild as the Night and Broken at the Break of Day, which will be released together one one vinyl disc. Fruition plays DC’s Union Stage on Thursday, Feb. 6.
In anticipation of that show, Parklife DC’s Mark Engleson recently interviewed Kellen Asebroek who plays guitar and piano and is one of the band’s three vocalists. Kellen and Mark discussed the band’s latest pair of EPs, their style and influences, and the band’s current tour.
Art Alexakis performs at City Winery in DC on Jan. 10, 2020. (Photo by Chris Smyth)
“Don’t you feel old being at a dinner theater and listening to ’90s rock?” the affable Art Alexakis quipped during his recent performance at City Winery DC. In the small, quiet venue, Art appeared comfortable on stage all by himself, regularly joking and telling stories to the fans in attendance.
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