The Comet use to be a dark, grimy place. Since the remodel a few years back, The Comet is now a dark, grimy place, with an awesome sound system. The sound guy knows how to balance the overall audience volume, because no matter where you are on the floor at The Comet, everyone stands in front of the floor level speakers. The vocal and instrument levels were spot on too. My ears thank The Comet's sound guy. Now... on with the bands.
The Bill Collectors opened the show, they are quickly becoming one of my favorite dirty garage bands in Seattle. Kinda have that Bay Area garage feel circa Supercharger, The Mummies, Trashwomen. Owen, the guitarist, garbled vocals remind me of Tom Waits if he had chosen punk rock instead. Matt, the bassist, emerges from a slumped stance into a gunfire bass line. Ken the drummer reminds me of Animal from The Muppets. He smashes the drums, then breaks into a rhythm line, watches the audience... and then smash, smash.
The Pharmacy, a band on local label "Don't Stop Believin Records" was next. I gotta applaud any lead singer that doesn't feel incumbered by a scarf AND a bolo tie around their neck while he sings. The keyboard player adds little ditties of "oooo's" and "aaaah's" at various times during their songs. They ended their set with a cover of some song I heard at the grocery store. "I don't care what they say / I won't stay in a world without love" ??? But The Pharmacy brought a crowd and the audience was digging on their minimalist drum style rock.
Bare Wires, a band from Oakland, was on their 2nd night of a 5 week tour. Very Cheap Trick, 70's rock influenced. Great timing too, I like bands that break the song down, you think it might end... but NOOOO, we're back with the rock, harder than before! And I gotta say, I love their matching mullet haircuts, check out the pictures.
Watch It Sparkle closed the show. There seem to be a bunch of bands in Seattle with the word Sparkle in their name: Sparklemotion, Sparkle Horse, etc. so I was curious to see Watch It Sparkle. The thing I loved best about their band is the bass player. He's very talented with hammer-ons and pull-offs and other advanced bass playing techniques. Very cool.
The worst thing about the night, my 2nd beer was served in a chipped glass, and I think I swallowed a small peice of glass. I didn't really notice until suddenly I felt a tiny crunch, and the back of my throat felt weird. I don't know, it was bugging me throughout the night, but now it feels ok, no permanent damage.
Words by Mark Ostler
Photo Credits:
Watch It Sparkle | Photo by Mark Ostler
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