Fake Problems @ Underworld
Around mid-to-late 2007, Florida’s own Against Me! were burning up the charts and landing on seemingly everybody and their mother’s “Best of 2007” lists with their major label debut New Wave. This sudden hotness of Florida’s folk-punk elite inevitably resulted in many assumptions (or accusations, depending on who you ask) as to who “the next Against Me!” would be. The forerunners of this ham-fisted contest were undeniably New Jersey’s The Gaslight Anthem and their fellow Floridians Fake Problems (and Texas’ O Pioneers who, despite being the closest to AM! sonically, was all but knocked out of the running in most circles…probably to everyone’s benefit.) However, as The Gaslight Anthem blew up to super stardom and guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Against Me! themselves kinda faded back to a manageable level of popularity (as flavours of the week tend to do) and “the next Against Me!” ended up becoming pretty unnecessary a goal. Which left Fake Problems in a rather interesting place as they went in to record their sophomore full length late last year. After their brief flirtation with stardom, this scrappy folk-punk quartet found themselves with very few expectations as to the music they create, which manifested in one of the most creative, lyrically driven and legitimately GOOD records seen this year, appropriately titled It’s Great to Be Alive. Taking a lot of chances and succeeding much more often than failing, the story of Fake Problems looked to finally be getting interesting now that they’d escaped the shadow of Tom Gabel.
However, that being said, their performance in Montreal on June 6th felt more like an interlude in that overall story. Much like the beloved Marvel Comics What If..? series sought to answer mind busters such as “what if Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben hadn’t been shot?”, this show also felt strangely familiar to a classic “What If”…in this case, “What If Casey Lee Wasn’t in Fake Problems?”
I could be sappy and try to prove that every member of the band is equally important to the whole, but that would really be a lie. The backbone of Fake Problems is unquestionably vocalist/rhythm guitarist Chris Farren and lead guitarist Casey Lee. While both excellent dudes, bassist Derek Perry and drummer Sean Stevenson really are not as important to the overall whole. So, as the band took the stage with Casey nowhere to be seen (and later revealed to be back in Florida due to a family emergency) I quickly realized that I was in for an unconventional Fake Problems set. Armed with two touring musicians on trumpet and additional percussion respectively, the band admirably played through about 50 minutes of retooled material substituting horn and keyboard for Lee’s usual southern-fried guitar wailing.
While initially skeptical, I soon found myself wrapped up the unique qualities and nuances of the performance. The band was clearly out of their element and at times visually awkward, but they trudged on with the intensity and devotion I’ve come to expect from them. However, it was clear that they were struggling. Their older, more straightforward punk material was easy enough for them to get through and crowd pleasers “Sorry Okay Sorry Okay Sorry”, “Born & Raised”, “Crest on the Chest” and “How Far Our Bodies Go” came off without a hitch. However, the majority of the set was full of the more complex, fuller (and most importantly guitar heavy) tracks presented on It’s Great to Be Alive and while they tried their hardest, a keyboard intro to “The Dream Team” just doesn’t cut it. After this performance I wasn’t really surprised that they cancelled the remainder of their current tour not long after they left Montreal. Far from being a bad performance, I’m actually grateful I got to see it. While not as full or musically apt a performance, it was a stunning bit of proof as to why Fake Problems deserve all admiration that is heaped upon them. One man down and limping and they still took to the stage and still tried their hardest to make the relatively miniscule audience smile (less than a quarter of Underworld was filled that night), and for that they should be commended.
So, what is Fake Problems without Casey Lee? Answer: not quite Fake Problems…but not quite nothing either.
Josh Mocle used to host The Kids Are So-So on CJLO. Now he doesn’t. However, if you are so inclined, you can still follow his audio antics on The No Division Podcast over at National Underground.org
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