Patrick Park @ the Paradise Lounge
September 17th, 2007 - by Eddie
On an intimate stage in a small bar close to Boston University, Patrick Park (a native of Colorado) stepped up with his acoustic guitar and looked out to the crowd.
“Hey everybody. I’m Patrick Park. Hehe, yea.”
At first glance, you don’t expect much from this guy with his frat-boy looks and face that resembles baseball player (and former local hero) Johnny Damon. But thanks to a morbid obsession with the now-defunct TV show “The OC,” I knew of Park and his acoustic-guitar sounding ways (which in turn has helped me convince women who are way out of my league that I was “sensitive” and “introspective”).
Why did I watch the OC? The season reason I watch 90210 reruns: it’s ridiculous.
And if not for The OC picking up two of Park’s songs (”Something Pretty” and “Life is a Song”), he would probably still be on that street corner singing to a group of homeless hippies and one sick dog.
Instead he’s here, playing dark lounges that make picture/video taking impossible. Here he is performing “Something Pretty.”
You have to be in the mood for Park. He’s perfect for coffee houses, rainy days and getting laid-back indie-rock chics who wear red glasses in bed (too specific?).
Here’s the strange thing about Park: he attracts the different sects of society, turning his concerts into impromptu UN-esque meetings. There was the father and his teenage son, the couple 20-something couples scattered in the middle, the hipster-punks in the back (not as angry as regular punks, not as wimpy as regular hipsters), older people who look like professors, and former OC fans who hide their dirty, shameful secret from the world (we can smell our own).
They were all fans. The applause was always strong and you got the sense that everyone knew the songs, which is especially appropriate since Park’s newest release is called Everyone’s in Everyone and seems to enjoy the theme that, well, we’re all connected by something (pain, confusion, love for acoustic-guitar-based songs).
Some will say his songs sound the same (he does add a harmonica on some) while others will say it’s a tragedy he isn’t more popular and played on the radio.
The truth, as it usually does, lies in the middle. Park is a great add to your music collection, provided you enjoy the quieter moments in life or cheesy teen dramas on television (word is the guy who made the OC is coming out with Gossip Girl which will be just as bad. Don’t worry. I’m steering clear).
