Fising For Comets and Sunward at City Tavern

The buzz. I think that is one if the things that is the most fun about following the Dallas area live music scene. The buzz changes almost as often as the sunsets, and the buzz can turn out to be about bands and venues that are fantastic, or bands that only the band members boyfriends/girlfriends could love. However, I have found that the louder the buzz, or the more people talking about the latest “must see” act, the better the odds are that the buzz is about something worth checking out. Over the past few weeks I’ve been hearing a lot about Fishing for Comets, and how they were a show that couldn’t be missed. So when I heard they were playing on Main Street downtown at the City Tavern, I decided this would be a good way to spend my Saturday night.

Before I get into the music review, I want write a few thoughts down about the Main Street area in Downtown Dallas. This area is pretty new to me, but so far I have been really impressed. I’ve only been into a handful of establishments there, but really enjoyed all of them. The street is really becoming well developed, is clean, well lit, and a very cool place to spend the evening. There is plenty of parking on the streets and in parking garages, and it’s busy but not packed. The times I have been down there I ended up at places that were busy but had places to sit, and it wasn’t so packed that you felt like you were in a cattle yard having to push through a sea of people trying to get a drink. I’ve had drinks and food at Ten Sports Grill and Bar, and also at the City Tavern, and I was very happy with the chow at both places. Ten is a great place to watch some sports, and the Tavern reminds me of a Austin or Denton (Fry Street…snifff sniff) bar downstairs, and upstairs offers pool tables and live music. I can see myself spending more time on Main Street, and if you are looking for a new place to hang out downtown in Dallas, you should check out the area.

On to the music!!! After a few Guiness, and platter full of every fried food that the City Tavern had to offer (sampler platter), Blake and I headed upstairs to check out the bands. The night got started pretty late (11:30?) and kicked off with Sunward. Their sound and style is pretty different and definitely not something that you see often around town. The only way I can describe their sound would be psychedelic. The music was pretty trippy, and their stage performance added to that effect. They had an 16mm projector playing old movies on a small screen behind the stage. The image was often on the band members, and the video was random and unusual. Again, psychedelic and trippy is the only things that comes to mind. There would be 20 seconds of what looked like a 1950’s nature clip (bird flying etc.) followed by old military test footage. I am pretty sure I even saw some footage of Captain Joe on his record attempt (20 bonus points to anyone who gets that reference. Double that if you get it and are not a skydiver). With the trippy music and movie, I really felt like I was at a show from the late 60’s or early 70’s. It was a lot of fun to see something different, and their music was pretty catchy.

Following Sunward was Fishing for Comets. For some reason my fingers keep typing comments when my brain requests comets on the keyboard. Sigh. Anyway, their performance was a lot of fun! The band seems to be very talented. Some of the band members (like Eric Neal) play with several other strong bands around the area and are extremely talented. Camille Cortinas leads the band on the six string and lead vocals. Her voice was fantastic, and she held her own just fine one the six string. Their choice of music also impressed me. They had a few cover songs mixed in, and I think that really made their show better. I do’nt say that because their original music can’t stand on it’s own (because it can!!! check it out!). Here is why I say that:
Picture in your minds eye a busy bar on a Sat. night. You have people playing pool. There are a few folks at the bar who have been drinking long before the music started and have no idea who is on stage, nor do they care. They are there for the drinks, company and that really cute blond in the low cut pink shirt playing pool. There are a few guys in the corner trying to get some phone numbers, and some guy who looks like he is either brilliant, or crazy at a table near the front. There are a few folks who are there for the bands, but they are not the majority. NOW, picture the band coming up to the stage. A good looking band with a beautiful female lead singer with a great voice starts to play Tom Petty’s American Girl. Now they are playing a song that everyone in there knows, and everybody sings along to. Now they have the attention of the entire crowd including the people who had tuned out the music before (even the cute girl in the pink shirt), and any artist or performer will perform better if they have the attention and buy in of the crowd. Now that they have that they can showcase your music that much better to that many more people.

I’ve been at two shows where Eric was playing, and both times he was in the shadows too much for me to get a good pic. He is the black figure in the shadows of the pic below. Camille, however made my life easy by not only standing in the little bit of light that was available, but smiling as she played. I think Blake had the quote of the night when he said “You can really tell that singing makes her happy.” You could tell that was really the case. Their sound is light rock/pop and maybe a little bit of folk. They engaged the crowed really well and had a good mix of music. Their show was a really good show, and I would recommend that you check them out when you get chance.

With some of the slower rhythms that they played with and Camille’s voice, I think they could easily toss some country into the mix if they wanted to. If they are reading this I’m sure they think I’m crazy, but think about it, maybe some Robert Earl Keen or Pat Green inspired tunes wouldn’t be so bad? You can’t not like those guys. What about Waylon? What about Willy? Or the boys?

Ok. Did I really just embed that video? Maybe not Willy, but the others might work. Man, I have to stop writing these things late at night. Loopy. Looopy I tell ya. Who needs drugs when you have sleep deprivation?

City Tavern

Fishing For Comets

Sunward

Ten Bar