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I traveled down to Philadelphia Pennsylvania to see The Faint at the Trocadero theatre this past Sunday and it proved to be quite the adventure. Over the course of my 11 hour round trip journey I had to deal with copious amounts of road construction (4 miles in an hour), a failing air conditioner, navigating the many one way streets of Philly and pedestrians in Chinatown oblivious to street lights while on their cell phones. However, none of this bothers me. Why you might ask? Well that answer is simple; I got to see the Faint.

Due to getting lost I didn’t end up seeing either Jaguar Love or Shy Child, but that sits pretty well with me because when I got to the Trocadero (Which was a pretty neat looking old theatre) The Faint were about to go on. So within 10 – 15 minutes of my arrival Joel Petersen, the bassist/guitarist emerged on stage into a haze of blue and red lighted smoke with the rest of the band following behind. The most notable attire of the entering band belonged to frontman Todd Fink who was adorned in what looked like some kind of antique aviator goggles and a tight fitting white lab coat, like a fashion forward mad scientist.

Soon they erupted into the opening cacophonous blasts of “Glass Danse” and the entire theatre just went nuts. When they followed up with “Dropkick the Punks” the crowd just condensed and pushed forward, writhing rhythmically. I don’t even remember watching the band play the song, it was just a moment of pure elation as I worked myself into a sweaty frenzy along with the rest of the crowd. The band played a crowd pleasing set featuring high points from Blank Wave Arcade, Danse Macabre, Wet From Birth, and their latest album, Fasciinatiion. There were great live versions of Victim Convenience, I Disappear, Posed to Death, Machine in the Ghost (My current favorite off the new album), Mirror Error, Forever Growing Centipedes, Agenda Suicide, The Conductor, Get Seduced, and Psycho.

When The Faint finished their last song and left the stage, the cheering roared and slowly mutated in a foot stomping “One More Song” chant to which the Faint eventually returned and graced us with an epic performance of “Birth” and “The Geeks Were Right”. I enjoyed the show so much that I can’t really think of a highpoint out of it save for noticing the little ticks of each band member during the show, like lead singer Todd Fink thrashing around onstage like a man trying to make his way around on a frictionless surface or bassist Joel Petersen motioning as if he’s conducting in the parts of the songs that didn’t require need his able guitar/bass work.

I didn’t even notice that my ears were ringing from the show until I was in line at the local Wawa with my pomegranite green tea and sliced pineapple container in hand. After eating those fine food products and getting a good night’s sleep I had a long drive ahead of me back to New York but I had a head full of good memories and good music that made the trip seem surprisingly short.

The Faint – The Geeks Were Right

The Faint – Worked Up So Sexual

The Faint – Victim Convenience

The Faint Myspace

Buy The Faint’s Fasciinatiion