By Brooklyn Fears
I stumbled into the legendary Casbah, with baited breaths, trying too hard not to inhale the cigarette smoke blown by the folks twice my age. My ears filled with the sounds of musicians sounchecking their equipment, when I came to an abrupt halt. I was met with three massive collage boards of Ian Parker, playing drums, embracing family, and laughing with friends.
It was at that moment when a tidal wave of melancholy and anger washed over me all over again.
Ian Parker suffered an accident and passed in his home in late August 2022. He was an admired friend, brother, son, cousin, uncle, bandmate, and father of two cats. His death had left wounds and tears in many hearts. Parker was an exceptional human being and deserved a special celebration of the life he lead. It was only fitting that on October 16th, 2022, a show was held at The Casbah in San Diego, California in his honor. Parker had not only attended many shows at this venue, but he had played there with his band One I Red.
Parker was an extraordinarily talented drummer. He had grown up in the local San Diego music scene and it was a vital aspect of his life. Tim Fears, Parker’s cousin and best friend had selected the four bands on the roster carefully, choosing acts that had a personal connection with Ian. Two of the bands had not played in nearly eight years, reuniting in Parker’s honor.
Celebration of Life Admat
Photo: Chris McFly Photography
All four of the bands had played on Parker’s crystal clear drum kit. Fears said it was his friend Bill Driskill’s idea to further honor Parker by having all of the drummers play on his drum set. Driskill, who played with three out of the four bands that night, was inspired by Taylor Hawkins’ tribute. After Hawkins lost his battle with substance abuse, Foo Fighter’s frontman Dave Grohl, held a tribute concert for his late bandmate at the Forum, where famed drummers played on Hawkins’ drum kit.
The last pair of drumsticks that Parker played with.
With muted sorrowful tones, Fears explained the vital role that Parker played in his life.
“Ian was like few people in your life where he was directly tied to multiple areas of my life and integrated deeply into each one, the fact that he was family, and had known him all my life. He was responsible for me meeting my wife, we’d played in the same music scene, we played many shows together and supported each other. We worked together since 2003, for multiple companies. We made it a point to always be close in all areas of our life. I spent a lot of time with him, at work all day, at shows at night, and on family holidays. He was very deeply ingrained in all aspects of my life.”
Parker’s bandmate, and vocalist of One I Red, Nikkie Stars, wrote via email that it was upon instinct to plan the celebration of life and that it was a joint effort among Parker’s closest friends. Stars wrote that Parker felt like a brother to her and that he was someone she could always count on to make her laugh. Stars recalled fond memories of playing and attending shows at The Casbah.
“From losing a shoe on stage, unplugging Fonsos guitar, and turning my back to the crowd to count off with Ian flooded my mind. I remembered us laughing about those little incidents and making fun of ourselves. It hit me hard when I heard his drums being soundchecked, being a sound I recognized so well, I’ll never hear him hitting those drums live again. I'll never get to run up beside him during a live show and see him smiling or singing along with me. That hurts.”
Ian Parker’s drum kit.
Photo: Chris McFly Photography
Eric Sellers of the band East of Sweden was one of Parker’s closest friends. Their friendship dates back to their high school years, which centered around their love of music and horror flicks. They formed their first band together Socketseven, which eventually disbanded over the years as the young men grew and branched out into their own creative endeavors. East of Sweden covered some of Parker’s favorite acts Far and Deftones the night of the celebration. Over email, Sellers reminisced on their youth and wrote stories of listening to records on repeat before attempting to cover those songs in Parker’s parent's garage.
“It was very special to be a part of his celebration of life and to honor my best friend and share memories about him. He meant a lot to me and it was important to celebrate him in a way that I think he would have appreciated; with friends, family, live music, and at a music venue that he loved, the Casbah. We loved to go to shows there together. It was also surreal because it felt like a reunion of dear friends that I hadn't seen or talked to in a long time. It was both difficult and heartwarming to share the remembrance and love of Ian with so many of our closest friends.”
The night continued with booze-filled tears and giggles. Tales of the man, the myth, the legend, were shared among Parker’s friends and family. Before the music began that night, Stars gave a speech about Parker and his character and left the crowd with this sentiment, “Ian loved fully, so let’s all love like Ian did.”
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