John Hendow

Our show at The Comet Tavern last night was interesting and enjoyable. The Comet is a justifiably celebrated venue in Seattle’s punk / DIY music scene, and many great local bands played there on their way to either stardom or obscurity. It’s one of the those places where great energy still fuels the creative output of musicians.

The stage is small. So small, in fact, that it’s really more of a triangular drum riser. After Janie set up her drums there was sufficient space remaining for my bass amp and for me. So I had a cozy spot on stage right, which is opposite my usual outpost. I turned toward Janie so I could watch her; she hits her drums with a lot of energy and it’s easier for me to sync up if I can see how she’s playing. Josh and Brad set up on the floor in front of us, more or less facing each other, which was a cool staging idea. There were four bands on the bill last night, with the Preons playing second. I really enjoyed hearing “Gozer” (local band with awesome name) and “Bear Hunter” (on tour from Chico, CA). Unfortunately I didn’t stay long enough to hear “Knives” play. One of the disadvantages of working so early in the morning is that I just can’t stay out and hear music on school nights. Josh was fighting some kind of cold bug but he persevered, bolstered by a cup of hot herb tea.

Overall, I’m increasingly satisfied with how the Preons are coming together. Last night’s show was musically satisfying, and I think we did a good job of putting the music first and finding new ideas in the more exploratory sections of our songs.

The PA in The Comet is surprisingly potent for such a small club (capacity 99). They have folded-horn EV subs with mid-size full-range mains cabs sitting on top of them. The monitors are mismatched, with one missing a tweeter. Stage power has a slight grounding issue, which manifests itself as a hum in the amps and ensures a mild shock from the microphone (eep!). I’m convinced that I need to get a really good transformer-isolated direct box and carry it with me.

The more we play with other bands, I have come to realize that The Preons are something of an unusual band in many ways. For instance, we’re not particularly loud, and we don’t use traditional rock guitar sounds. The overall texture of the band is more complex than most pop bands, and there are spaces where we get fairly “out”. At the end of Sunrise we take a simple A Maj to B Maj motif and we each take a walk musically, choosing our own directions on the spot. Brad switches from keyboards to trumpet and back to keyboards. I get both hands on the fretboard to do some counterpoint. For about 90 seconds at the end of that song it sounds like a Charles Ives composition. Last night it was gloriously weird and beautiful.

I’ll happily play at The Comet again. It’s a great room with a cool atmosphere. And they have Mack and Jack’s on tap… my favorite local beer. I don’t drink while playing, but I enjoy getting a pint for sipping during load-out.

We’re working on some new material for the next show and I am enoying the songwriting rehearsals. Next gig: The Mars Bar.