Ladytron and The Faint in Austin

Last night I saw Ladytron for the third time and I’m grateful I didn’t pay to attend. Oh, they were in decent form but on this outing the quartet shared the billing with another act (The Faint, more on them later) which meant a shorter set list. One positive outcome was them doing “Destroy Everything You Touch” for the encore. I think even the mellow crowd (compared to other genres) would’ve rioted if this hit were excluded.

Originally, I walked out thinking it was a short show and I got to wrap up my volunteer work earlier than most evenings. Then I overheard a couple arguing on the way to our cars. The lady was busted the man’s chops about being in a funk after seeing a band he liked. His complaint had a ring of some truth to it; he said the band only felt obligated to arrive on time. I disagree if he meant there was a lack of enthusiasm but I completely agree over any ire on the clipped itinerary since it lead to Ladytron sticking to a very heavy Velocifero set (the current album). No “Blue Jeans.” No “Evil.” No “Cease2xist.” Those are faves I caught the last two appearances.

I’m going to stick with the positive though and chalk this up to a one-time incident caused by the booking arrangements unlike bands I would never want to see live again regardless of what I paid: New Order immediately comes to mind, the main culprit who made me skeptical of all heavy Electronic performers as live acts until Mark cajoled me into giving them another chance.

Between them and The Faint, there was an awesome DJ mixing up the tunes with impressive versions of standard Alternative songs missing familiar elements which made it refreshing. The easiest example was Smashing Pumpkins’ “Zero.” I always felt James Iha’s guitar was the foundation or hook to the hit. It wasn’t necessarily better, more like in the same vein as a cool cover. Ladytron also changed up their entrance. Past shows had them greet the crowd with messages in the light show; the projection of “Hello Austin, we are Ladytron” in 2006 was the best. Not last night. They took the stage in the dark after playing ELO’s “Livin’ Thing.” Solid choice. Jeff Lynne’s best known band has some of its DNA in Ladytron. Again, they opened with “Black Cat” which prompted a stranger to ask me (of all people) what language was Mira singing in. Captain Trivia to the rescue because I knew, “Bulgarian” and I found a translation. As I stated before, the bulk was Velocifero material which I saw last Summer yet it didn’t bore me. Sometimes it’s cool to see if bands shake it up when they swing through a destination for the second or third time, promoting the same record. Lastly, they did alter the light show. Behind them was a series of lights, similar to a marquee for a bank but smaller bulbs. During certain tunes, Ladytron videos were crudely appearing on it, rather cool.

Now I want to rip a little on the opener, Crocodiles I think they were called. Noisy and bit off-putting. Maybe they’ll improve like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or stay annoying like Sleater-Kinney. I do hope to be wrong like I was with Toad the Wet Sprocket in 1989. This duo made Shearwater (on before Neko Case) look good.

The Faint was what a sizable portion of the crowd went to see, including a former Kenny’s co-worker I ran into. I wonder why I never heard of them. They were decent so I’ve got them on my “investigate further” radar yet I wasn’t motivated to buy a CD at the merchandise booth as Oppenheimer, The Phenomenauts or Epoxies did. Sadly, the only lasting impression The Faint left on me was their singer (Todd Fink) and how he resembled the offspring of Scott Weiland (appearance and movement), Keith Flint (singer of The Prodigy) and a dash of John Waite! Seriously. Maybe I should hunt down Bad English, Babys and John Waite videos on YouTube to make my point that it was more than the reddish hair.

Update Apr. 23, 2009: The originator-owner of the photos contacted me to iron out my faux pas. Actually, I’m glad she did, not only did I misspell her surname but I got her permission (finding how to reach someone through flickr.com isn’t its strength in the urgency to write something timely, maybe I have to have an account). Shannon requested her flickr page to be linked as well in return. The lady is a very good photographer so I recommend it.