What better way to work off Thanksgiving dinner, and the leftovers you’ve inevitably had half a dozen times already, (it’s ok we all do it,) but to dance it off. Trust and The Faint proved to be great facilitators in this post-holiday workout.
Having just recently getting on the Trust train, (I know, I know it’s been a long road and I’m still working with my counselors to really get me to that honest place), there was little doubt that they were a perfect opening band for The Faint. After getting off a European tour with Yeasayer, and immediately embarking on a U.S. tour with The Faint, it’s safe to say they’ve created some pretty big fans for being such a young group; especially when considering their first EP didn’t really come out until 2011, and full length having debuted earlier this year. Then again it has been the age of fast rising bands. The synthpop sounds of Trust often felt reminiscent of the confused angst exhibited by early Todd Fink when comprising The Faint’s initial albums; whether it’s out of a similar sense of nostalgia or general intrigue Mr. Fink could be spotted going in and out of the crowd dancing to Trust’s set, without any fans around him really noticing.
After getting his last minute dancing in, Todd Fink led The Faint on stage in a darkened Crescent Ballroom. Beginning with some new material, An Unseen Hand, the lights began to flicker, Todd’s voice begins to ring through the room, and slowly that familiar Faint guitar starts to whale in; the lights began to get more and more intense, and everyone was instantly transported back to some other time and place. With a reunion/ anniversary tour, it’s hard to gauge prior to the show, what the intentions of the artist may be in relation to performing after breaks. If there’s not much new material, then the old hits better be a big enough draw to keep a crowd. As Danse Macabre has been a cornerstone in many music lovers collection for ten years now, The Faint could’ve practically phoned the show in and been appreciated for showing up, but that’s never been their style. Being the genuine performers they’ve become known as, the new stage setup, and their revised nature, evidently rooted a bit more responsibly, helped to form a completely new and powerful perception of these musicians as showmen.
After working through several of their classics like Desperate Guys, andDropkick the Punks, The Faint got to the reason why everyone had showed up, to hear Danse Macabre. Aside from a few track changes, the middle part of the show was 100% Danse Macabre. Singing along to practically every song, the crowd ate up The Faint’s adventure to nostalgia, proving that they had never lost a step, and in fact, picked up a few new tricks during their years on hiatus. Having been fortunate enough to catch The Faint test out there new show at FYF a few months prior, I had some idea of what to expect, but a set limited by time at a festival generally cannot compare to one at a venue. Going through over 20 songs, like most in the audience I went home with a new and deeper appreciation on the brilliance and creative force that The Faint are often accredited with—with such a long set and not one lull in the performance it’s amazing that their condensed tour schedule hasn’t wiped them completely, hopefully the last half will go just as well.
- Unseen Hand
- Dropkick the Punks
- Desperate Guys
- Victim Convenience
- Take Me to the Hospital
- Agenda Suicide
- Glass Danse
- Total Job
- Let the Poison Spill From Your Throat
- Violent
- Your Retro Career Melted
- Posed to Death
- The Conductor
- Ballad of a Paralysed Citizen
- The Geeks Were Right
- Call Call
- Mirror Error
- Mote (Sonic Youth cover)
- Worked Up So Sexual:
- Encore: Evil Voices
- I Disappear
- Paranoiattack
