Indie-Rock and Roll Call! Bright Eyes, Commander Venus, Beep Beep and Broken Spindles? All present, but can you just call us the Faint?
The various artists, the incestuous love child of the now-infamous Saddle Creek Records, reported to The Rave last Wednesday to teach bands, inspired by their pioneering spirit, a few things about dance-punk.
Donning enough black eyeliner to make even Ozzy Osbourne jealous, the band started the dance party off with three consecutive songs before addressing the crowd. They tore through a good chunk of their fourth and newest album, Wet from Birth, playing "I Disappear," "Desperate Guys" and the Depeche Mode-inspired "Erection." Despite being an 18+ show, these songs received more crowd participation, in the form of dancing, than songs from previous albums; even though fans were old enough to appreciate the more inspired and concise older albums.
Sandwiched between two flat screen televisions projecting videos corresponding to the themes in the songs, it was clear the band had achieved some status since forming in Omaha, Neb., roughly 10 years ago. Status came with a price to the band's performance — sometimes the musically-synchronized images were more interesting to watch than the band.
Synthesizer player Jacob Thiel had his instrument facing offstage toward the left wing for the duration of the show, leaving his ever-changing synth sound a mystery to fans.
This is not to say that the band's live show has recently diminished, but fans relayed that the performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this summer in Indio, Calif. and also in Omaha four years ago was better. Perhaps the band only rises to the level of their venue.
The Faint were also unfulfilling musically — missing a precise, constant beat that should be ubiquitous throughout their style of music to drive the cathartic dancing. The absence should not be blamed solely on drummer Clark Baechle, for the stage set-up was not conducive to band members listening to each other. Singer Todd Fink appeared to compensate with overt emotion for the missing beat.
Fans were willing to cope with the band, presumably because they knew the potential of how tight the Faint could sound. The band extrapolated quite well on some new songs as well as the older ones from Blank-Wave Arcade, and the crowd held on tight.
After initially exiting the stage, the band quickly reappeared for a three-song encore, including the popular "Agenda Suicide." At least the band didn't have pretensions about waiting for the crowd to cheer them back on stage; most everyone lost their voices after chanting "control, control" during "The Conductor."
Super Diamond, a Neil Diamond cover band, opened for the Faint and seemed to be in the wrong genre and place, as the singer admitted he looked more like Captain Kangaroo than Elton John, let alone Diamond.
Adding to the confused images of the evening, the show was sponsored by Camel-brand cigarettes. To coincide with the brand's current casino promotion, overglorified burlesque dancers performed to popular tunes right before the Faint came on stage and a mock wedding chapel along with card tables were set up in the venue. For a band that prides itself on staying underneath the mainstream music radar, the festivities seemed out of place.
Overall the show seemed to value conventionality over novelty, but this still doesn't mean fun wasn't had. Some fans left a little part of themselves at the show — the backsides that they danced off furtively.
This story is a Marquette Tribune Online exclusive.