The Veils, the Comas and Me

The Veils, the Comas, and American Catastrophe. Tuesday, June 19, at the Grand Emporium

Reviewed by Jason Harper

Do you know anyone who likes seeing shows at the Grand Emporium these days? I’m afraid I don’t. The sound is usually bad, the bar staff ain’t the friendliest in town, the stage is ugly and half-assed, and it’s just not a cool place to hang out and see a show. It’s a facility. They have drinks, a stage, and an interior, one local musician recently commented, that looks like it was designed by the Cylons. It’s really a shame, with so few venues in town, that its owners don’t work harder on making it an appealing place to the people on the scene. Because, since it’s changeover from hallowed blues dive to sterile disco, I’ve seen some good shows there by relatively major bands — the Delgados, the Perishers and Aqualung, Hard-Fi — some of which actually were very well attended.

It was downright embarrassing how few people turned out last Tuesday to see Brooklyn’s the Comas and London’s the Veils, two up-and-coming acts that by rights should have been playing where people would be there to see them. Opening for them was local act American Catastrophe. I missed them because they started at like 8:45, no exaggeration. The venue had decided to book it as an all-ages show, with “curfew” at midnight.

The Veils’ Finn Andrews finished the night with a serenade in the women’s restroom. Photo by Scott Spychalski.