Under ceiling-strung Christmas lights, Carly Comando and Tom Patterson of Slingshot Dakota took the stage to the tune of “That One Night” from the TV show “The Office.” The crowd applauded and sang along. Then, Slingshot Dakota played.
The power-pop duo from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, performed at The Void on Tuesday as part of its Midwestern “Little Sebastour.” They played alongside fellow punk-pop bands Petal, Idle Era and Spacer.
Slingshot Dakota is comprised of singer and keyboardist Carly Comando and drummer Tom Patterson, who are married and have been performing as a pop-punk drum and keyboard duo since 2003.
This isn’t the first time Slingshot Dakota has played Bloomington. Its most recent appearance was at Amy’s Winehouse back in March of this year.
Comando expressed her appreciation for the Bloomington community as well as DIY venues like The Void and what they do for communities.
“It’s so great to see young people have a space to come together,” Comando said.
Before taking the stage as Slingshot Dakota, Comando and Patterson backed Petal’s singer and guitarist Kiley Lotz for a performance of her song “Heaven.”
It’s about finding comfort in friends and family, Lotz said. “That’s something Tom and Carly have given to me.”
Lotz also noted how much she appreciated venues like The Void.
“There’s something wonderful about building communities,” Lotz said.
In between songs, the trio sang “5000 Candles in the Wind” from the television show “Parks and Rec,” which laments the death of the band’s idol miniature horse, Li’l Sebastian. Then Comando and Patterson performed as Slingshot Dakota.
Slingshot Dakota started with “Paycheck” before Comando and Patterson headbanged to the synthesized, upbeat “You.” The crowd bopped along as Patterson’s long, wavy hair and tie-dye shirt fluttered in the fan.
The band played songs from its first album “Their Dreams Are Dead, but Ours Is the Golden Ghost!” from 2007 all the way to “Broken,” an album released in February that included tracks recorded alongside its 2016 album “Break.”
As the night wound down, Comando said how the volunteers of The Void, the patrons and the bands all make its events and music possible.
“When you put a lot of energy and focus into something, it’s going to come back at you,” Comando said. “I just want to thank you for existing.”
Slingshot Dakota’s final song, “Grudge,” is an “ode to all of my experiences in which I have been written off, ignored, spoken over, steamrolled and treated unfairly because of my gender,” Comando said in a press release from Topshelf Records.
When they performed that song, the keyboard, vocals and drums hit hard and loud enough that the grating protecting their speakers flew from it’s position and slammed to the ground, to the surprise and excitement of the audience.
