Cupid’s Lounge: Songs About Love by Talented Locals
xBk Live, Des Moines, Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8:30 p.m., $13-18
Des Moines rock outfit Ramona & the Sometimes wants to sweep you off your feet — or at least rock your socks off — at their Valentine’s takeover of xBk Live, Cupid’s Lounge: Songs About Love by Talented Locals (Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8:30 p.m.; tickets $13+fees in advance, $18 day of show).
“The reason we came up with the whole concept is because Valentine’s Day kind of sucks,” explained lead singer Ramona Muse Lambert. “Unless you want to go on kind of a romantic dinner date at a crowded restaurant, there’s not much to do. So we were trying to make something for everybody.”
“And also you don’t have to be romantically involved to enjoy [the show],” Derek Muse Lambert, drummer in the band and husband to Ramona, added. “We try to make it about all interpretations of love, one of which could be love for the community and everybody that’s putting this thing on together.”
“Ramona has put on a few of these shows and they’re always phenomenal. It is a joy to get people together for a fun silly light hearted performance, and what better time for that than Valentine’s Day in the middle of winter?” said Adam Callanan, a horn player in xBk house band the Lovin’ Forkful, which will serve as a backing band for various artists during the show.
“[The first Cupid’s Lounge] turned into this legendary show that a lot of people participated in,” Ramona said.
Unfortunately, it took place in February 2020 — just before the world shut down and the original venue, the Vaudeville Mews, met its unfortunate demise (the club became one of many pandemic casualties in October 2020).
“We had a ton of our close friends,” Derek said of the show. “A lot of them worked at the Mews or played there a ton, myself included … It was most of our, like, last show at the Mews, so it was this cool way to go.”
Inspired by those great memories, the pair created a Halloween show called Goblin’s Lounge, which they hosted at xBk in 2023.
“That was a huge hit,” Ramona said. And its success led to this upcoming return to Cupid’s Lounge.
So what can you expect at this show?
“A good time,” said Ramona. Derek said, “Laughter, tears, dancing.”
“Every time we do one of these shows, I get texts and emails and there’s a lot of Instagram stories … People just saying, ‘that was so fun’ … Because it is unpredictable and wild and you’re all in it, you’re all trying to pull this thing off together,” Ramona said.
“It’s a musical/comedy experience unlike anything [the audience] will ever see,” Elliot Imes, another member of the Lovin’ Forkful, said in a text message. “No one else will do this bizarre spectrum of covers, interspersed with weird characters. We’re one of a kind (okay, maybe someone in, like, Portland is doing this, but who cares).”
“It’s … something that’s kind of memorable and a little bit insane,” Derek said. “We like to make things that are very ambitious and see if we can do it or see what it turns into.”
“It’s fun to maintain an unpredictable, unpredictability in this predictable world,” added Ramona. “Just trying to make things an experience when a lot of things are made an experience through an algorithm.”
“Ramona and Derek are two of the most clever, funny people I know,” Imes said. “They have such innovative ideas that they combine with self-consciously dumb humor, which is everything I love. When we’ve done these shows in the past, the biggest joy comes from seeing them make their insane ideas come to life. It’s an honor to be a part of that.”
“It usually feels like people just kind of lose themselves in how many things are happening at once,” Derek said. “Just, like, different singers coming out; you don’t know what song is coming next and people are dancing and singing along and having a great time.”
The show opens with the Friendly Foreheads, who cover ’90s female-lead pop acts such as the Cranberries, Natalie Merchant and Faith Hill. Then Ramona and the Sometimes will play a set of originals before a showcase where local musicians from bands like Odd Pets, Adam in the Parking Lot, Acid Legs and others perform love songs for around an hour to close out the show.
“Our set list goes from ABBA to Magnetic Fields to Dexys Midnight Runners,” Ramona said of the eclectic showcase. “We got some Meatloaf. I got some Whitney Houston. I think we do some genuine ‘love songs between couples,’ but a lot of it’s a little bit of a parody of the entire concept of Valentine’s Day.”
There will be comedic bits in between performances. And DJ Dame Roddy Exotic (who named herself after her “werewolf” guinea pig, Roddy) will be playing a dancy, romantic, eclectic mix of punk, lover’s rock, psychedelic and soul in between performances.
Expect visual elements, as well.
“We spend some time on outfits,” Ramona said. “It’s kind of a vaudeville sort of thing. We’ll have … some epic cardboard hearts.”
Photographer Annick Sjobakken, whose work has been shown in Time Magazine, the New York Times and other publications and exhibitions, will bring back her photo booth from the original Cupid’s Lounge.
“She kind of turns everybody into her art project,” said Ramona. “We like to bring visual art to the music, and so Annick is part of that experience.”
Ultimately, this event will be a level-up from the pre-pandemic original.
“It’s all hits. And also, it’s not random, because I have a spreadsheet to prove it. The first Cupid’s Lounge did not have a spreadsheet, but we’ve gotten to the point where I have a strict practice schedule. I’m sending out emails, baby,” Ramona said.
This article was originally published in Little Village’s February 2024 issue.
