How E.T. Deaux Threw the Adult Swimming III Listening Party
Inside the 80-person golf-themed night at The Cocodrie
Editor's note: Last July, rapper E.T. Deaux released Adult Swimming III, the third album in his summer sports series (swimming, tennis, and now golf). The invite-only listening party for around 80 people happened at The Cocodrie at CastleDay.
For the release, E.T. wanted an invite-only listening party for friends and collaborators, golf-themed end to end, and big enough to feel like an event without losing the intimacy.

He booked The Cocodrie at CastleDay. The artist and a small group of close friends stayed at the villa overnight; the rest of the guests went home after the show. The villa hosted everything: the listening, the food, the bar, the activities, and a slow recovery brunch the next morning.
The weekend at a glance
| Guest count |
~80 invite-only friends and collaborators |
| Length of stay |
2 nights (event night plus recovery day) |
| Food |
Brisket from Oh Boy Po'Boys |
| Bar |
Adriana, friend bartender, custom drinks |
| Extras |
Album merch table, golf cart, golf games |
| Event format |
Private listening party with full album showing and DJ set in the living room |
Step 1: A villa as the venue
The Cocodrie's huge living room ended up being the heart of the night. E.T. did the full album showing there: video on, audience seated and standing throughout the space. The room fit so many people, and the sound carried beautifully. Room for everyone, yet very intimate. Exactly what you want for a listening party.
Booking a villa instead of a traditional music venue meant E.T. controlled the entire experience: the lighting, the merch placement, the bar setup, the flow between rooms, even what people did in the off-moments. It never once felt like a generic event space.
He also provided guests with the experience of staying at CastleDay which was part of the appeal. For a night, guests could unwind and interact with the music in a leisurely way, which is the whole ethos of E.T.'s Adult Swimming series: luxury leisure for all.
Step 2: Lean into the album's theme
Adult Swimming III was the golf entry in E.T.'s summer sports series, so the whole event leaned into golf theming. A golf cart was brought in. Golf games were set up for guests to play between the listening and the hangouts. Album-themed merch was on display and for sale all evening.
The theming did real work. It gave guests something to do besides stand around with a drink, and it built a physical world around the album: the merch table, the golf cart, the games. People came for the music and stayed for the world around it.
Step 3: Friend vendors handled the rest
E.T. staffed the event with friends as vendors:
Catering:
brisket from Oh Boy Po'Boys, a friend's New Orleans po'boy shop. Comfort food that fed 80 people without anyone hovering over a plated dinner timeline.
Bar:
Adriana, friend and bartender. Custom drinks made for the night, themed to the album.
Merch table: run in-house. Album-related items for guests to buy on the spot.
A traditional music venue would not have allowed this level of customization without significant markups or vendor restrictions.
Booking the villa let everyone bring their own people in.
Step 4: Build in a recovery day
E.T. booked The Cocodrie for two, not one. Set up the day before, take some exploratory pictures, then, the listening party. The next day was a recovery day for the artist and the small overnight crew. Slow brunch, coffee, recap of the night, gradual cleanup.
The big benefit was that nobody had to clean up the party at 2 AM. The villa absorbed everything overnight, and the next-day they handled the cleanup on a normal human timeline. For any event of this scale, the recovery day is nice to have. It's what keeps the artist from arriving at the next thing on no sleep, and it makes the close-friend overnight feel like its own intimate chapter of the weekend.
