The Faint @ The Chapel 5/13/2019

photo by Nikki DeMartini

Todd Fink, Clark Baechle, Graham Ulicny and Michael "Dapose" Dappen of the cyber-punk outfit, The Faint rocked The Chapel in San Francisco's Mission District two nights in a row last week. 

The March 15th release of Egowerk is their first album in 5 years but they're no strangers to their SF fanbase: last October they played downtown's Mezzanine, two years before that they played at The Regency Ballroom with Gang of Four and around the time of their 2014 release, Doom Abuse, they played at The Independent with Reptar. 

The Faint @ The Chapel 5/13/2019
photo by Marc Fong 

Both of shows at The Chapel started with Closeness, a side project of The Faint's front-man and his wife. They donned matching black wide-brim hats on Monday night which was throw-up in your mouth a little bit cute. Choir Boy followed with a set reminiscent of Morrissey before The Faint took the stage around 10:00 and the spacious room had considerably filled in by that time.

Closeness @ The Chapel 5/13/2019
photo by Marc Fong 

Choir Boy @ The Chapel 5/13/2019
photo by Marc Fong 

It was a good mix of hipsters straight out of the Mission and middle aged goth kids all of which had their hands up, waving along to the serendipitous hums as soon as they started coursing from the stage. Strobe lights paused with pockets of darkness before bursting with blinding flashes, aiding in the eerie ambiguity that The Faint has been known for over the years. 

An indie sound with a industrial edge, a menacing new wave feel. 

Though they're on the Egowerk tour, they only played a handful of songs off of Egowerk and the title track was not one of them. 

The Faint @ The Chapel 5/13/2019
photo by Marc Fong 

More tracks from their fourth album, 2001's Danse Macabre made up the set-list than any of their other albums. Focused and impassioned, Fink stuck to his guns, letting fans marinate in their elation as the stage went black between songs. The early 2000's dance floor fave, "Desperate Guys" and their song with the most spins on Spotify "I Disappear", both off of Wet From Birth, got the biggest reactions. For a venue that holds a lot of indie-folk/folk-rock and psychedelic-rock shows it was a nice change to see a band like The Faint at The Chapel: from the lighting to the dance club vibes it was definitely a first (for me at least). And the acoustics sounded just as good with the heavy synths as they do when a folk-rock band plays there.

The Faint @ The Chapel 5/13/2019
photo by Marc Fong 

Fans of The Faint are pretty hard-core, so I'm sure many of them who were there on Monday night were also there for the Tuesday night show. If it was anything like Monday night's show, they were in for a fun one that'd have their ears ringing. 

The Egowerk tour runs through August 16th. 

The Faint @ The Chapel 5/13/2019
photo by Marc Fong 

set list 5/13/2019 

1. Quench The Flame 

2. Geeks Were Right  

3. Desperate Guys 

4. Total Job 

5. Southern Bells in London Sing 

6. Mental Radio 

7. I Disappear 

8. Chameleon Nights 

9. Evil Voices 

10. Let The Poison Spill From Your Neck 

11. Sky Lab 

12. Take Me To The Hospital 

13. The Conductor  

14. Young & Realistic

15. Worked Up So Sexual 

16. Paranoia Wet 

en core 

17. Child Asleep 

18. Agenda Suicide 

19. Glass Danse