Bare Wires at the Comet, Seattle | 17 August 2010
In his book The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll, Robert Forster lists 10 truths of rock. Rule number ten states that the three-piece band is the purest form of rock and roll expression. Oakland, California’s Bare Wires evidently know this. The guitar, bass and drums equaled more than the sum of it’s parts last night, filling the place with sonics that most bands would need a second or third guitar to accomplish . The drums cracked and the bass rumbled while Lead Wire Mathew Melton’s guitar blasted out of a six foot tall amp and created a breeze in the otherwise stuffy Comet Tavern.
The new album Seeking Love hints at glam rock, but live Bare Wires are pure unadulterated 70’s glam from their haircuts, to their silky women’s blouses, to the power chords being dispensed and the poses rendered. Melton and his band look like they just got off the boat from 1974. Melton’s look with his moppy curls and mustache treads a very fine line of cool rock god and creepy guy. The band blasted through most of Seeking Love as well as a couple new songs (apparently they’ve got another album nearly ready to go) and seemed to get caught up in the energy of their own songs. Melton literally threw his guitar aside for another after breaking a string, and bassist Fletcher Johnson somehow lost his shoe midway through the set. The small (It was a Monday and they just played the Funhouse last month) but enthusiastic were got caught up in that same energy, but I couldn’t help but think how much better this show would have been if wild beer swilling moshing crowd of last month’s Ty Segal gig would have shown up for Bare Wires. All in good time, because after the garage overload of the last few years, I’m definitely ready for 70’s glam revival and bands looking to Sweet, Slade, Mott the Hoople and Cheap Trick, and Bare Wires are poised to be leading the pack.
mp3: Bare Wires – Romantic Heat (from Seeking Love on Castle Face)
This was the second gig of a lengthy tour that will take the Bare Wires to the East Coast and back. Here are the dates.
Aug 18 – The Aquarium, Fargo, ND
Aug 19 – Triple Rock, Minneapolis, MN
Aug 20 – The Vault w Real Numbers, Ramma Lamma, Milwaukee, WI
Aug 20 – Cactus Club w/ A Frames, Headache City, Milwaukee, WI
Aug 21 – Crown Tap Room w Real Numbers, Chicago, IL
Aug 22 – Landlocked Music, Bloomington, IN
Aug 23 – Black Sparrow w/ The Boy Toys, Lafayette, IN
Aug 24 – The Lager House, Detroit, MI
Aug 25 – Case University w/ Tyvek, Cleveland, OH
Aug 26 – Now Thats Class, Cleveland, OH
Aug 27 – Monster Island Basement, Brooklyn, NY
Aug 28 – Bruar Falls, Brooklyn, NY
Aug 29 – M Room, Philladelphia, PA
Aug 30 – Velvet Lounge w/ Mabye Baby, Washington, DC
Aug 31 – The Station, Carrboro, NC
Sep 1 – Little Kings, Athens, GA
Sep 2 – Star Bar, Atlanta, GA
Sep 3 – Glen Danzig’s House, Nashville, TN
Sep 4 – Murphy’s w/ River City Tanlines + The HUMMS, Memphis, TN
Sep 6 – Ole Tavern, Jackson, MS
Sep 7 – Saturn Bar, New Orleans, LA
Sep 8 – Notsuoh, Houston, TX
Sep 9 – Beerland, Austin, TX
Sep 10 – Beerland, Austin, TX
Sep 14 – RIPS, Phoenix, AZ
Sep 15 – Bar Pink, San Diego, CA
Sep 17 – The Smell, Los Angeles, California
Sep 18 – The Juke Joint, Anaheim, CA
the finest kiss 