Faced with impending doom you might be faced with two options, repent and wait or shrug your shoulders and live your lasts days on earth to the maximum. The Comet is Coming provides the soundtrack for the latter scenario.

One of the many projects led by British-Barbadian saxophone player extraordinaire Shabaka Hutchings (aka King Shabaka), The Comet is Coming, defies any kind of classification that we have gotten used to, at least that is what I experienced during their recent concert at L’Astral on October 7th.

Right from the start, I was submerged into their world and at the same time, I tried to let go of any impulse to analyze or try to understand what was happening, and just be in the moment. Fortunately, the passion with which the trio played made it easy to dwell into their sound and dance to their songs, solos and sudden explosions of cathartics sounds.

At times I heard in their music, rumours of punk, an essence of Caribean music and whiffs of drum n’ bass and dance. Everything was blended well together and the force with which they played along with the unique solos that they shared with us hypnotized us to the rhythms and filled us with expectations as to what else could come next. 

Even though I recognized several songs to be from their album Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery but they seemed to have grabbed the skeletons of those tunes and transformed them into a live experience that made a cold fall Monday evening feel like a warm summer one. 

If the comet does come and the end of all things along with it, there might be no better way to welcome it than dancing and moving along to the melodies of this eclectic band.

Review – Ricardo D. Flores

Share this :