Postcard From Seattle: Comet Tavern

The second night of my Seattle adventure was perfect. All I ever want is to see the true side of a city and at Comet Tavern on Pike, I had the chance to see four amazing local Seattle bands. Comet is a dive bar in every sense of the word: dark, brick, cheap. Located on Capital Hill, hands down the most hipster of any part of any city I've been to recently, a dive bar will do nothing if not thrive and throw great noise shows. I found the show from a small snippet in The Stranger selling it to weirdos like me who probably want to listen to loud noise and thrash around a bit. I was hoping for something like Lightning Bolt or Coughs, and the show ended up being more or less what I got.

Starting out was Footwork. Heavily drum driven with shrill vocal accents, Footwork introduced me to the Seattle music scene I was hoping for.

White Coward, also a three-piece, was driven by their fast, deliberate guitar, hard-hitting, fast drumming, and noisy, wallowing vocals. It worked. I loved it.

For some reason the video on my camera screwed up, and I didn't get a video of Monogamy Party, the third band that played. Such a shame, because, visually, this was one of the most exciting bands of the night. THe lead singer stripped down to his boxers within a few minutes of starting the set and the moshing must have started just before.

Headlining was Mountainss. This band had been on tour for a while and this Wednesday show was their first in Seattle after a bit of a hiatus. They were loud, dressed in slips, and totally happy to be back home amongst friends. The saxophone reminded me immediately of Coughs, so, of course, I instantly loved their performance.

I should also say that I met really great people at this show. My second day in and going to a show by myself was totally scary, but I left unscathed and with a few new friends. Going to weird noisy music shows will continue to be my favorite way to make new friends, in addition to getting a handle on what is going on in a new city. For a midweek, Wednesday show, I could not have asked for a better time.