I Was Acting Indifferent At The Merch Booth, Putting On Make-Up

Seeing the northern lights is something that’s on my bucket list, and, judging from my social media feeds on Tuesday night, Tuesday would have been the perfect night to cross it off my list, but, alas, there was a show in town and it was one I wasn’t willing to give up. Although it wasn’t the aurora borealis, the light show happening at First Avenue was truly just as impressive, and it came with a killer soundtrack.

The soundtrack was kicked off by the DJ stylings of DJ Shane Kramer. Unfortunately, Shane was situated up in the sound booth high above the audience and had zero spotlight, so I couldn’t snap any photos of him doing his thing, but that didn’t stop him from truly setting the stage for the night. I will always love Shane’s mixes because they seamlessly blend the new and old, as well as the commercial and obscure, with such flawless precision. His time soundtracking the First Avenue mainroom on Tuesday night was no different. I was thrilled to hear him spin some CSS (one of the most underrated bands of all time, in my opinion) and got lost in the retro music videos playing on the screen. Although he didn’t get a spotlight on him, DJ Shane Kramer was an absolute star of Tuesday night, and the night would not have been the same without him.

Hercules and Love Affair was the first band to take the stage and the sole opening act of the night. Although I had never heard of this group or their music before they took the stage, they instantly captivated me. Their sound was dark and brooding, but it had a danceable energy behind it that made it infectious and fun. Although the stage stayed fairly dark throughout Hercules and Love Affair’s set, there was something colorful about it. I think their music is the kind of music that you see in colors. There’s always a darkened background to their sounds, but as different elements come in and out of their songs, you see splashes of red, yellow, and pink. The brightness of these splashes acts as highlights that shine even brighter when combined with the performance of this trio.

Don’t get me wrong, the performance wasn’t as intense as what I got on Monday night when I was watching Babe Haven and Die Spitz, but it hit just as hard. The vocalist of the group had this way of almost drawing the audience closer to the stage by standing on the edge and slightly kneeling into the audience. Although separated by a barricade and a small photo pit, there were moments throughout the performance where the vocalist felt like they were in the audience. Kind of like the hearing in color thing, this sounds bizarre, and I am aware of that, but it was something that was just so cool about Hercules and Love Affair’s set that I would be remiss to not try and describe it to you (although, I admit, I know this makes me sound crazy).

The changeover between Hercules and Love Affair and The Faint was quick, and I couldn’t have been happier about that because I had been waiting to see The Faint for a hot minute. Doing this night after night is great, and I wouldn’t say that I’m ever not excited to see a live concert, but there are some that get me more excited than others, and this was one of them. I had been counting down the days until this show and, now that it was finally here, I wasn’t going to miss a single second of it.

I’ve written about The Faint before, but it’s been a few years, so let me give you a little bit of background on this band. Formed in 1995, The Faint is a techno-rave-sounding act, but for indie rock kids. I found this band by accident. I had snagged a copy of their 2004 album ‘Wet From Birth’ when it came across the desk at the record store I worked at when I was younger. I only grabbed it because it was on Saddle Creek Records, and at the time, I was a huge fan of Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes’ frontman), and Bright Eyes was on the label. I didn’t know what I was going to get when I pushed that promo CD into my boombox, but I knew I was excited to see what this new-to-me Saddle Creek act was all about. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. The strong beat mixed with metallic intricacies and distorted vocals. I was hooked and have been in love with this band ever since that fateful day.

The Faint’s twenty-song set spanned the entirety of their storied career so perfectly. Every song was the one I wanted to hear, and I feel like there were only a few tracks left out that I was bummed I didn’t get to experience live on Tuesday night. Some tracks definitely hit harder than others, and I danced a bit harder to the ones that I knew like the back of my hand, but with a band like this, there’s no such thing as a “sleeper” track when seeing them live. Every song was brought to life with a sense of energy that was just as dazzling as the flashes of light that illuminated the stage. Although their set had a super accessible feel, being “all about the music,” it also had a larger-than-life quality at the same time. Maybe that was the lights, maybe it was the volume of it all, or maybe it was the way I honestly couldn’t stop myself from getting lost in every song —regardless, it made for a truly stunning set.

Out of all of the times I’ve seen The Faint perform live, I rarely hear Todd Fink address the crowd directly. Tuesday night wasn’t that different, with Todd only taking the time to thank the crowd here and there, but there was one moment before playing one of my personal favorite songs, “Desperate Guys,” where Todd explained that this song was kind of created here. He went on to explain that he vividly remembers working and writing this song during one of his many trips to Minneapolis. This has no effect on anything in the grand scheme of things, but it was really cool to get a little insight into the background of this band. I also felt like it was one of those full-circle kinds of moments, or like it was fate. I never thought, when I pushed play on ‘Wet From Birth’ back in 2004, that I would end up in the Twin Cities, living my best life and truly living a dream, but there I was. Doing just that while hearing this icon talk about how one of those songs that soundtracked my angsty teenage years was created in the spot I now call my home away from home. Cheesy? Absolutely, but what a perfect cherry on top of a beautiful night.