Regardless, with the job in Dahlonega coming to an end, I'm finally back, enjoying the aspects of being a little more free with life. The first show I went to since my return was a favorite of mine, The Comas, at the EARL. I've seen The Comas probably three times over the years and I just don't know where else to go with them. Their second album, A Def Needle in Tomorrow, really stuck with me and I realized their potential as a good indie rock band. Then I kinda forgot about 'em for a while and then on indietorrents a few years ago, I stumbled upon Conductor, which was just awesome. They were getting positive reviews for the album from left and right and the recognition was coming. I saw 'em once while they were touring for that record and it was a weird set. They were the main band that night (Vietnam opened) and they only played for what seemed like 30 minutes. The material was strictly from Conductor and it was completely amped up - sped up like woah, loud as anything, and just "whaaaaat?" I don't know what it was, but I left that show with a sour taste in my mouth.
While reading (and being introduced to, actually) Bort's blog, I found out more and more about the recent shoegaze band Asobi Seksu. As a direct result to that, I found out that The Comas were actually opening for them on a tour last December. I thought it would be a great opportunity for a great show. Turns out that was the case, The Comas redeemed themselves, played some new material, and Asobi Seksu was quite fun. I was back into the mix. But once I started working in Dahlonega, I couldn't be there for the last Comas show back in June, their first Atlanta show promoting the newest release, Spells.
Upon hearing Spells, it didn't seem memorable to me. I can't tell if the band has changed their songwriting dynamic or if I've changed my listening preferences, but the record didn't stand out as much as the previous two had. I was hoping that the live gig would turn things around, both my feelings for the band and my reception of their new album. Turns out that wasn't exactly the case. The gig was more like a redux of their other show I saw at the Drunken Unicorn a while ago that was off the mark. It's just weird territory for the "main draw" of the evening taking the stage and the crowd at the bar thinned out so much from the opening bands, and I'm guessing the Comas picked up on this (how could they not?) and even had a hard time bringing their touring buddies (Great Northern, who were surprisingly elegant and, well, great) on stage for some help. Granted, I could care less about how many people are in attendance for the show, but I really felt like the band let it get to them... or the music itself just didn't pick up at all.
The tunes off Spells were nice, actually, and sat well with me. But the band's performance was lacking some kind of element of urgency. It was like the ultimate show to slouch in a chair. I just don't understand what went wrong. While I still appreciate The Comas a bunch, I think I'd seriously question seeing them again... at least in Atlanta. Maybe in an environment that's more receptive to what they do (they are stationed in New York currently), there would be better performer-audience vibes, but the energy was sucked out of the EARL that evening.
On the other hand, the first band of the evening worked with the EARL's audience well. They actually had the biggest draw of the evening. Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun officially started their live career together that night and they got a pretty good reception. Sure, some of the material needs some tweaking (both live and the songwriting), but their "fuzzrock" was well received and provided promise for a good local band to emerge out of the hazy Atlanta heat.
