Kevin Pace Trio – 7524
PREE – Alvin
Nick Hakim – Heaven
Griefloss – łłł
Projected Man – Raspberry Jam
CrushnPain – Forms Of Relaxation
Max D- Bubblegum
Three Man Soul Machine – Kiki
RDGLDGRN – Hangout
Cheick Hamala Diabate – Diamonds and Gold
Todd Simon – Amalgam
Lands – Sometimes
Sligo Creek Stompers – Cuckoo’s Nest
small craft – of the mountain
Aztec Sun – Get Up
Boat Burning – RM1
Smoke Bellow – Patient Belongings
Corm – Then I Built My Own Violin (Instrumental)
Calm The Waters – Stay
Olivia Neutron-John – 16 BEAT

RDGLDGRN is based in the D.C. suburb of Reston, Va. Local music fans know the band well, and have enjoyed watching it win fans across the country and around the world. A few years ago, I heard its first album (Red, Gold, Green) and fell in love with RDGLDGRN’s style. It’s not only because Dave Grohl played drums in most of the songs, while Pharrell Williams cowrote and co-produced “Doing The Most.” I loved the group’s fresh sound, and how its members rapped over the top of real drums. Their catchy hooks and harmonies quickly grabbed my attention.

When planning for RDGLDGRN’s Tiny Desk show, many details were up for consideration: time, date, technical arrangements, and so on. Of biggest concern, though, was how the group would fit into the scaled-down setting of our space. If you go to a RDGLDGRN show, you’ll see a traditional stage set-up with a full complement of instruments. In the venue, you can hear and feel the excitement of a full-blown band and a full drum set; heads bob, hands wave, bodies move, and you don’t find a single person in the audience standing still. It wouldn’t be easy to contain the energy in such a small space.

The colors in the band’s name represent RDGLDGRN’s members: Red (Marcus Parham), Green (Pierre Desrosiers) and Gold (Andrei Busuioceanu), who wear their respective colors all the time, even when offstage or away from the camera. In light of their recent experimentation with Brazilian-style percussion over acoustic versions of their songs, they decided that an all-acoustic set infused with Brazilian vibes would make for the perfect Tiny Desk concert. After performing “Karnival,” the group’s latest single, RDGLDGRN treated us to unplugged versions of a handful of its best-known songs.

“Karnival” is available now (iTunes) (Amazon).

Set List

• “Karnival”
• “Chop U Down”
• “Doing The Most”
• “No Pixar” (Freestyle)

Credits

Producers: Suraya Mohamed, Niki Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Morgan McCloy; Production Assistant: Anna Marketti; Photo: NPR.

For more Tiny Desk concerts, subscribe to our podcast.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Higher Hands – Due Dilla-gence
Le Loup – I Had a Dream I Died
Miyazaki – Apparition
Oddisee – Fievre
John Lanou – Blackbird with Landon Letzkus
Vandaveer – Ways & Means
South Rail – Wandering Soul
Dale Holmes – Summer Rain
Tom McBride – Cheap Thrill
PS Music Group – Waiting
Xamin – Humidity ft. Alex Leipold, Rebecca Schrader
Max D – Slick
Peanut Butter and Dave – Egon
Q and Not U – We Heart Our Hive
Shannon Gunn and the Bullettes Septet – Warm Woman Blues
Frau Eva – Interlude
RDGLDGRN – Hangout
Outputmessage – Goldilocks Zone (Julius Jetson Remix)
Language of Sleep – Epilogue
Lungfish – Constellations

Jason A Mullinax – Next Time We Fly
Suzanne Brindamour – Pop’s Theme
Astronaut Jones – Keep It Down
Lungfish – Cut to Fit the Mouth
Young Rapids – Melt
RDGLDGRN – Hangout
Moonlight Mask – The Nightingale
TRU Band – Thelonius Funk
Aaron Abernathy – Faded Pictures
Jonny Grave – L’Enfant Promenade
Oddisee – When Everything Changed
Bunny Man Bridge – Shush Mutt
Nitemoves – Music Song
Miter – Young
Matt Chaconas – Goodnight
Technicians – Low Tide
Koshari – Into Shreds
We Were Pirates – A Boy & His Tiger
AndrewN – Night Falls
The Acorns – Oak Follies

BOOMscat at the WeDC showcase:

Go Cozy at the WeDC showcase:

RDGLDGRN at Monster Energy Outbreak House:

Tabi Bonney at the WeDC showcase:

Two Inch Astronaut at Stereogum/Exploding In Sound showcase at Hole In The Wall:

Young Rapids at the WeDC showcase:

All photos by Cassandra Mullinix

“It was time for us to leave,” emails Peter Lillis, a Babe City resident who runs the label’s publicity. According to Lillis, Babe City met the same fate as dozens of D.C. house venues before it: The property at 22nd and N streets NW is being “gutted and flipped and sold for big money,” he writes.

Lillis says he and his roommates have moved to a house near Fort Totten Metro. (For privacy reasons, he asked Bandwidth not to publish the address.)

After Babe City began hosting basement shows last fall, the spot became one of D.C.’s most reliable hosts of underground, rock-skewing bands, putting on at least a few gigs a month. Raucous New Paltz punk duo Diet Cig played there twice this year; pop-rock Virginians RDGLDGRN packed the basement in July.

When Jon Weiss (of The Sea Life and Witch Coast) and Erik Strander launched Babe City Records, the house became its headquarters.

But the location — in one of D.C.’s most expensive neighborhoods — felt temporary from the beginning, Lillis points out. “As much as we love it, [Babe City] was never meant to be our permanent home,” he writes. “We quickly outgrew the space, with five people living in a three-bedroom house, and many bands operating out of our living room and basement.”

Moving elsewhere promises to be a money-saver. “We were happy to move to a more comfortable (and cheaper) home up in north D.C.,” Lillis writes.

The second incarnation of Babe City hosts a kickoff show Dec. 27 featuring Babe City act Den-Mate, San Francisco’s Sports and a solo version of Maryland’s Go Cozy. Donations will be taken at the door.

In true punk-rock fashion, the residents of Babe City exited Dupont with little pomp and circumstance, Lillis says. “We packed and moved in the middle of the night with a 24-foot U-Haul,” he writes. “It was an experience.” 

Babe City II hosts its first show Dec. 27. See Facebook for details.