Chico’s dynamic night behind the mic: Rainbow City Park readies for mesmerizing show at Naked Lounge in early February

Rainbow City Park plays Chico's Naked Lounge on Feb. 7. Courtesy photo

Performance next Friday also features Chico’s Bloodsugar on the bill

By Odin Rasco

Heralding the release of their first-ever EP, “Fruitless,” Northern California-based indie rock/ dream-pop band Rainbow City Park is coming to Chico’s Naked Lounge Feb. 7.

Relative newcomers to the scene, Rainbow City Park has already started gaining attention in the Central Valley with energetic live shows, including an appearance at Sacramento’s Concerts in the Park series in 2024. RCP has played alongside an impressive list of acts including Royel Otis, Japanese Breakfast, Katy Kirby, Wild Child, The National Parks, Ben Nichols of Lucero and Sarah and the Sundays.

The band came together in 2022 when Guitarist Chris O’Keefe started looking for other musicians who had an interest in playing off some riffs he’d been working on; soon after, Ryan Williams (drums), Dani Judith (lead vocals, guitar) and Nick Nassab (guitar, vocals) had joined on. Rainbow City Park draws inspiration from 90’s alt-rock and some modern acts such as Diiv, Phoebe Bridgers and Pinegrove.

The band has already released a handful of must-relisten singles, including “Broken Record / Dad Jeans” and “Convince You,” which bring together their dream-pop, indie and shoegaze influences.

 “Valentine’s Day 1999,” released in early 2024, made a splash in the West Coast indie scene. The song, which begs to be played off of a cassette tape while on a road trip, balances Judith’s vocals reflecting on the kind of existential nights familiar to the overthinking-inclined with bright, chiming guitar riffs.

“Fruitless,” a five-song EP set to release Feb. 4, marks an expansion of the band’s established soundscapes, tapping into higher-energy rock riffs they grew fond of while playing Paramore covers.

“We’ve been playing Paramore covers on Halloween nights, and those songs are energetic,” Judith explained. “Interacting with the crowd like that really inspired us to kick into gear, turn the amps up a little bit. The EP is a lot more rock heavy than what we had pictured when we first started writing it.”

The EP’s title track, “Fruitless,” pulls listeners forward through crunchy guitar and driving percussion, while Judith’s vocals confront the times when one’s best efforts feel insufficient.

“‘Fruitless’ is our most collaborative song to date, and it came together really fast,” O’Keefe insisted. “Everyone was in the room when it all came together.”

The band’s collaborative writing approach, with Judith offering up a snippet of lyrics or O’Keefe tooling around with a new riff or progression, extended into their time recording “Fruitless” during a weeklong residency at Panoramic House in Marin County.

Mike Davis, a repeat collaborator with RCP, ran the mixing process. The band credits Davis’s input as an element which elevated the entire project.

“For our next long form, I think we’ll go at it with some cohesive starting plan, but this one was the best songs we had which we’d written over time,” Judith noted. “The fact that they sound like they all fit together as well as they do is thanks to our producer. Mike really helped bring the EP together while we were at the Panoramic studio.”

Rainbow City Park in action. Courtesy photograph

Rainbow City Park expects the upcoming Naked Lounge show to be an exciting time for concertgoers, as O’Keefe works to book each show with the intention of making the shows feel like an event.

“We try to be very intentional about what shows we play, in which spots and regions, so people really have a reason to come see us,” Williams acknowledged. “We try to make something special about each show, as much as we can. The EP coming out is obviously a big deal, and we really hope everyone comes through and listens and enjoys it. This is our first collection of songs, so it’s going to be a cool new thing for us.”

The band’s shows are dynamic, switching from high energy to moments where the players slow things down; O’Keefe stands by the band’s live performances as their strongest point as performers. The high energy can even hit points of spectacle, with Nassab’s guitar playing bringing a je ne sais quoi to the stage that’s impossible to match.

“Nick is our secret weapon,” Judith confided. “Our energetic performances are very much thanks to him being onstage. He has a way of moving around that can’t be replicated, but that power is transferred out to the audience.”

The Naked Lounge show will also feature Chico-based band Bloodsugar, Solar Estates and Reversed Cambered. Snippets of the show will be seen again in the future, as RCP is putting together a music video for “Fruitless” which will incorporate footage from their upcoming live shows.

“The lineup is such a huge appeal; I mean, I told my parents about it, because I’m so excited about who we’ll be playing with,” O’Keefe joked. “The bands are the real selling point, and I guess we’re on that list too.”

If locals are eager for more Rainbow City Park, the good news is they won’t have to wait long to see them again, as they will be visiting Chico later in the year as part of a West Coast tour alongside Topeka Clementine.

For more upcoming live shows in Butte County, check in regularly with CN&R’s arts and culture page.

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