Ladytron and The Faint @ Metro, 4/4/09

Earlier in the year, Ladytron swung through town promotingtheir latest album, Velocifero, andreally let me down with their live show. While I love the band on record, theyjust bring nothing to the table live. It’s an unfortunate combination of lackof stage presence and an overall attitude of boredom that is the nail in thecoffin. So when The Faint announced their co-headlining tour with Ladytron, Iimmediately decided I should give them another chance. The Faint’s live show isscorching in intensity, so maybe this  combination would jolt some much-neededlife into Ladytron’s performance.

Sadly, I was wrong. I hate being wrong, especially when itcomes to bands I like. But after seeing this show, I simply believe Ladytron isan excellent studio band. Nothing to apologize for either—there’s nothing wrongwith being a great band on record.

The second night of the back-to-back shows at Metro provedto be an affirmation that The Faint can outplay anyone they tour with.  Even with Ladytron’s cooler than cool LED lightpanels, and the Eastern European chic both Helen and Mira possess in spades, itjust wasn’t enough to compensate for their muddied vocals and seemingdisinterest in being on-stage. There were kids up front, jumping and screaming,and yet the ladies never cracked a smile in appreciation. Musically, the songssounded good, but once the vocals kicked in, it became a repetitive lyricalassault drained of passion.

Still, the crowd seemed pretty energized by Ladytron’s set,especially for the set closer—probably the band’s best known song—“DestroyEverything You Touch.” But as the set wrapped up, the floor of Metro filled inand the crowd was anxiously anticipating The Faint.

I think it’s safe to say anyone who came to see Ladytron andstayed to see The Faint was converted. The crowd seized on every note of thekeyboard and danced as if their lives depended on it. The whole band plays withpassion, and they’re clearly having a good time—even when they’re not playingon a track, they’re dancing along with everyone else. Singer Todd Fink hastoned down his outlandish wardrobe and makeup since I’d seen them last, but hemade up for it with charisma that he might want to share with the Ladytroncrew.

The Faint played a great mix of older tracks from Danse Macabre and Wet From Birth, their two most popular albums, and a healthy doseof the new stuff from Fasciination.There’s something about the aggressive nature of the music that just gets thecrowd going, and once they started last night, they never really calmed downuntil the lights when up.

The only minor criticism came when the band left the stagefor a few minutes, all the while knowing the clock was ticking on Metro’s (andthe City of Chicago’s) all ages  curfew.Do we really have to go through the motions of an “encore” when we know theband’s scheduled to play until 10:00? Thankfully, The Faint returned a fewminutes later in order to play a few more tracks just as the clock struck10:00. The crowd left a little dazed, and a lot sweaty, but no one leftdisappointed.