• Last Wednesday, grimy mainstay the Comet Tavern unexpectedly closed its doors for what was supposed to be, according to the venue’s booker, Michelle Smith, a temporary period of one or two weeks to sort out their “water bill/lease issues.” Wednesday evening, capitolhill
seattle.com reported that court records revealed the venue’s owner of six years, Brian Balodis, is facing serious financial trouble with both the venue and his own condo. On Sunday evening, Smith posted an update on Facebook alleging, “The Comet owner secretly removed the sound system and other items of value from the venue. So it looks like we are kaput unless another owner decides to lease the place from the building owner and maintain it as The Comet Tavern.” Since the debacle, Smith has been receiving offers to book shows at other Seattle venues. She will soon be looking to set up gigs at Waid’s and Lo-Fi Performance Gallery, preferably jazz at the former and garage rock and soul at the latter. The Highline has also reached out to Smith to possibly book some nights at that Capitol Hill spot. Find updates on the Comet’s murky future at lineout.thestranger.com
• In more Bummertown, USA, news, Capitol Hill’s avant-rock/electronic/free-jazz venue Electric Tea Garden has announced its plans to close by the end of October. The closure, according to the venue’s owner, Bruce Mason, is simply due to “classic gentrification of the neighborhood,” and he reported plans to redevelop the property.
• Okay, Saturday was really fun, though! At the hopefully now annual Macefield Music Festival (the fest formerly known as Reverb), the Intelligence guitarist Dave Hernandez was dismayed when he and drummer Pete Capponi arrived at the Tractor Tavern wearing almost identical polka-dot shirts. The jury is still out on “who wore it best.”
• Also during Macefield, Tacoma rappers ILLFIGHTYOU killed the Sunset Tavern with their energetic set (see: going super hard while standing on a speaker and punching a disco ball). Overheard outside the Ballard venue from a blond tube-topper: “I mean, I love gangster rap, but this might be too gangster.”
• Ian Judd—guitarist for the defunct band Stephanie, show booker for Cairo, and boss of Couple Skate Records—is moving to New York City at the end of October. Judd did a fantastic job organizing some of the city’s farthest-out underground-music gigs at the tiny Capitol Hill boutique and helping to manifest Cairo’s annual EXPO festival. He has been a vital part of Seattle’s all-ages music ecology for the last several years, and he’ll be missed.
• In hawt celeb news for the bored and the boring, zzzzzzzzzz wrote an open letter responding to zzzzzzzz’s open letter to [yawn] something whatever omg who cares good night. 