The Comet Is Coming - Yes, Manchester

The Comet Is Coming are a difficult band to sum up, in essence, a three-piece jazz trio playing drums, saxophone and electronics but in a way that no one else does.

Their recently released second album "Trust In The life Force Of The Deep Mystery" is an even stronger prospect than their Mercury-nominated debut from 2016. This tour is in support of the new album's release, they play the Pink Room of the recently opened Yes venue in Manchester tonight. It's another multi-room establishment with two performance spaces, ground floor bar, and roof terrace, perfectly situated near many of the University areas towards the centre of town.  The Pink Room is the 250 capacity main room to the first floor which is packed out tonight.  It’s the first time I've visited the venue, I'm yet to be convinced by the concrete box room acoustics and speaker set up but regardless of that the band tonight regularly ignited the crowd into frenzied dancing and movement.  Very often thrilling with people at the front jumping and pogoing to the more beat heavy tunes.  That is when they are at their best, this is dance music with live drums and one of the country’s leading sax players in Shabaka Hutchings.  They play for nearly 90 minutes including plenty from their debut, songs like Space Carnival getting a big reaction. Where the tunes weren’t quite as infectious , more reflective dare i say; that showed in the crowd. That is no complaint, but sometimes  a shorter set delivering concentrated intensity can maximise the impact.  During a quieter moment, I comment to a friend that it's best when “it's all going off a bit”, "yeah it's all gone a bit ITV Nightscreen" was the reply.  A hilarious but totally unjustified slant, If Ceefax or ITV out of hours broadcasting had sounded like this we would surely all have been nocturnal more often.  It did make me think that if there was ever an album of that music out there I would totally pick it up if I saw it, just to remind myself of starker times.  Anyhow... The Comet is Coming couldn't be further from that, one of the most original and boundary pushing progressive jazz and electronica bands out there at the moment. They tour again later in the year.  Absolutely a guaranteed good night out.