Last weekend, Cure For Paranoia closed out the first leg of the Tiny Desk Contest On The Road tour with all *eyes* on them. At our West Coast stops, Cure For Paranoia captivated crowds with their energizing performances and Cameron told stories throughout his sets about his journey as an emcee and his years of Contest entries.
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The week started off in LA with our resident Contest vocal looper, finalist Noa Bar. Jacquie Lee impressed us with her vocal range as she sang tales of heartbreak and jealousy. When Cure For Paranoia hit the stage, the group’s mash-up of winning song “No Brainer” and OutKast’s “B.O.B” had the entire audience dancing with excitement.
In San Francisco, August Lee Stevens kicked off the night with her soulful voice and tender lyrics (plus some surprise Radiohead and Nina Simone covers). Then educator and musician Griot B took the stage with his talented band of students. While Cure For Paranoia headed to Atlanta for a gig Cameron booked before he learned he won this year’s Contest, we were thrilled to have our 2024 winner, The Philharmonik, step in as headliner to play songs from his Tiny Desk concert, as well as new music from Transcendentalism I and Transcendentalism II.
Mikayla Delson for NPR
On Sunday night, we headed to Seattle for another sold out show. Local indie-pop artist Anna Justen wowed the audience, singing in both French and English. During King Youngblood’s performance, he brought out two special guests from his entry, his uncles Cyril and Omari Neville of the Neville Brothers! And Cure For Paranoia rejoined us for one of the liveliest shows yet, where fans in the front row were decked out in band merch and singing along to every word.
The 2026 Tiny Desk Contest is presented by Capital One and supported by Rivian.
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Next week, we’ll be back on the road, starting off the second tour leg in Cure For Paranoia’s home state of Texas. While our Austin show is sold out, there are still a few tickets available in Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis. We’d love to see you there!
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