The Faint @ Bowery. Ehh… Twas OK. It wasn’t exactly the best time ever. I tried to dance it up and get really into it, but just when I started to get into a song it would finish. WTF? I also got shoved around and knocked into a bit, but in a bad way. Dude- those people must have had SUPER POINTY elbows! Some girl behind me must have brought her whole entire fucking LIFE in her bag because it sure as hell was suffocating me. And there wasn’t a collective jumping up and down to the beat, it was just complete fucked up knocking into one another- not even moshing just “OW! YOU BITCH!”
And then there was RED… When The Faint does a show, they totally believe in CREATING A SHOW. The lighting was pretty horrid. It was all red all the time because of the use of red floor lights. Kinda like hell… but with strobe lights. I almost had an epilectic fit and there was no warning! OK, not really… and the two buckets of dried ice wasn’t really working properly- which led to much on-stage discussion by the band members pre-show. The ice ended up on the sides by the stage exits. Although it was quite dark, I thought it was appropriate for their sound and look (all dressed in head-to-toe black- skinny as fuck and tall as fuck) and whatever.
The crowd looked like people who still think Orgy rocks. And a few hipsters. And people who probably took the train in from Long Island. And there was one punk dude with a pink mowhawk up in the balcony.
I would have liked more audience interaction by the band. The bassist reminded my of my French teacher from last year for some unknown reason, so it was kinda bizarre watching him. I kept getting freaked out. But Phillipe wasn’t from Omaha…
I didn’t feel that connection with the other audience members or with the band, and that’s what I like and look for when I go to a show. I thought they did an OK job of like producing semi-good sounds and whatever, but there was definitely something lacking.
And their songs all start to sound the same after a while.
I should have bought an Out Hud CD. Duh.
I think I enjoyed one of the openers, Out Hud more than The Faint… with their keyboardist/guitarist that looked like the guy from Jimmy Eat World meets Jack White… and their electric cello player (ELECTRIC CELLOS LOOK FREAKIN COOL!) and that guy that did the entire intro in French, which everyone on stage found reaaaaalllyyy funnnnnnnyyyyy. There was also a plead from one of the band members that went something like, “I’M TIRED OF WORKING, GIVE ME MONEY! I know there are some of you out there with money. Trust funds, whatever…. Outhud@hotmail.com– Give us money. We’ll name a remix after you. Seriously.” I enjoyed that.
The weirdest thing of the night were the people handing out JJ72 flyers outside the venue after the show. JJ and The Faint? Not exactly the same crowd.
I miss Starsailor.
Was it cold in Toronto? Is that why James wore one of his simply GORGEOUS cord jackets onstage? Why do good people make bad fashion choices?
I’m gonna take a moment here to say TORONTO CHARLATANS/ STARSAILOR FANS TOTALLY KICK ASS! They all post pictures. I love them!
