LIVE REVIEW: Fauxchella VI

Words by Elliot Novak and Jesse Frolik, Photos by Elliot Novak

While elder emos got When We Were Young Fest, midwest emo fans from all over flocked to Bowling Green, Ohio for Summit Shack’s sixth iteration of Fauxchella. Hosted by Howard’s Club H, the lineup included a diverse range of genres including twangy alt-country band Brewster to midwest emo icons Michael Cera Palin.

Day One

While we didn’t make it in time for the beginning of Day One (cursed time zones and us forgetting that Wisconsin is an hour behind), we managed to make it to quite a respectable amount. From NATL PARK SRVC to Charmer, the sets we caught were absolutely electric with people moshing, singing along with their favorite songs and just having an awesome time.

NATL PARK SRVC

Kicking off our Fauxchella VI experience was NATL PARK SRVC, whom I heard referred to as “basically the American Black Country, New Road” by someone behind me. Their sound was incredible, lush and rich with beautiful vocals accompanied by instrumentals that feature violin and saxophone (I’m starting to understand the BC,NR comparison). The band performed songs from their most recent release, the double LP Magician. This meant that I got to hear my favorite off the album, “Alice, Illusions, and the Jack of Hearts” which was a very exciting time for all involved. As the first Fauxchella set we witnessed, I’d say it was a perfect opener to an incredible weekend. —E.N.

Thank You, I’m Sorry

Thank You, I’m Sorry’s new album, Growing In Strange Places, demonstrated an explosion of growth and diversity in the band’s sound; and now seeing them live for the first time since these new tracks came out, you can tell this change goes deeper than a few songs. TYIS opened with the thematically relevant classic, “How Many Slugs Can We Throw Against The Wall Until We Question Our Own Mortality,”, which helped open the band's first album I’m Glad We’re Friends back in 2020, and made for a set that showed the band as they have changed and grown since their inception. The performance continued with a selection of tracks off of their amazing new album, with songs that make you want to dance, scream and cry, all within a short 25 minutes slot. With a full set spent questioning the line between artist and audience, the band ended their time answering this question. The final song featured a duo lineup on the stage, while the remaining members joined the audience and handed out flowers to those who chose to share this time with them. At a festival like Fauxchella, built upon the ever growing community of DIY, Thank You, I’m Sorry’s heartfelt set brought all the love and respect that binds this community together. — J.F.

Equipment

I don’t know if I’ve ever been at a DIY show with as many people fighting over the mic as when Equipment took the stage. This shouldn’t be surprising with the band’s fantastic new album, Alt. Account, coming out just a few weeks before, it seemed like each word was fresh on everyone’s mind. As a band from just up the road in Toledo, Ohio, Equipment was playing a home-game from the start, with their audience chocked full of locals, friends, family and “#1 Quippy Fans” (as noted by their matching t-shirts saying just that from the band’s merch table). The set consisted of a few hits, but mainly their theatrical new tracks like “LO/FO,” “Minnow” and “Hot Young Doctors,” all of which brought the audience front and center to scream the words right back at them. Wrapping up their set, Equipment lost all control as the relative militia of #1 Quippy Fans stormed the stage to belt out the final notes right along with the band. — J.F.

Summerbruise vs Carpool

I’ll be honest, from the get go I had no idea what the event of a battle set would even entail but holy shit seeing Carpool and Summerbruise together was insane from the start. The groups switched off who was playing each song causing the others to mess around while not playing. There were Family Guy clips, heckling the others that were playing and all around shenanigans throughout the set. Between alternating songs, the bands filled every minute with banter and humorous disputes. The set concluded with duet performance of Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff” accompanied by a mournful rendition of “Taps” following Summerbruise’s unfortunate demise. If there was an award for most entertaining set of the night, this battle set was the winner — E.N.

Ben Quad

“Did you guys know that their name comes from a Star Wars character?” is the thing I have to restrain myself from saying every time I talk about Oklahoma-based Ben Quad. During their set however, the only thing on my mind was how impressive their live performances are. Over six months since the last time I had seen them and their stage presence has not wavered a bit. Playing songs from all throughout their discography including “Would You Tell Picasso to Sell His Guitars” off their latest release Hand Signals, the crowd sang along to every word. Closing out their set with “Blood for the Blood God,” the opening track off their album I’m Scared That’s All There Is, the band had everyone singing that “they wanted to get better”. — E.N.

Charmer

Closing out Fauxchella day one was none other than Marquette, Mich. midwest emo icons, Charmer. The set may have been the last one of the night but the energy was by no means dwindling. Seeing the crowd sing along to staples like “Roy’s Our Boy” and “Nurse Joy” made the entire venue feel like you were back at a basement show in the best way. The band also played the track “Rose Thorns,” which at the time was unreleased, an awesome occasion for all the midwestern emos in the audience. The final act of day one provided a perfect kick off for all the emo bands that made an appearance later in the weekend. —E.N

Day One Gallery

Day Two

Day Two of Fauxchella found us with probably the most energy we would have all weekend, due to, I'm sure, not having to drive seven hours beforehand and almost getting enough sleep, unlike the conditions the day before. We also had more than enough to look forward to on the Saturday schedule, with some fan favorites like Michael Cera Palin, Newgrounds Death Rugby and Dad Bod, in addition to a few first-time sets for us that we couldn’t wait to see like Gwuak! vs. Smoke Detector, Cheem and Brewster. We could hardly contain our excitement as we piled into the car and drove to Howard’s that morning, blasting a selection of CDs we bought the day before at the festival.

gWUAK! vS. sMOKE dETECTOR

The Gwuak! Vs. Smoke Detector Battle Set was definitely my Fauxchella “Barbenheimer” (an already dated reference). The set featured an intimate duo vs. duo that I wasn’t expecting at all when the bands took the stage. Both Gwuak! and Smoke Detector featured simple guitar and drums, leaving plenty of room on stage for the aforementioned battling to take place. Smoke Detector laid down jazzy riffs and emotional lyrics in opposition to Gwuak!’s jam rocky-stylings. They took turns playing their gut-wrenching emo hits like SD’s “Twink of Tweak” and Gwuak!’s “Pomegranate,” and Smoke Detector finished up their set with an insane cover of the 2004 pop-hit “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. I say this was all a battle set, but both of the bands were far too nice for it to seem like they genuinely hated each other. The sets were intermixed with singing along to each other's songs, starting circle pits, and the drummers taking turns aiming the fan at each other. Overall, you could tell both bands were just happy to share the stage and spend a brief hour making some music together. — J.F.

Dad Bod

One of the non-emo bands on the Fauxchella roster, Minneapolis-based Dad Bod was one of the bands that proved you don’t have to have whiny vocals (should be noted here that I love whiny midwest emo vocals; it is merely an observation) to bring the energy. Playing a mix of tracks that have been released such as “Rot” and “Milkdrinker,” alongside new songs that have been taunting me from the horizon, Dad Bod brought all the sadness of the emo bands you know and love, and added in stunning guitar and bass tones. As a proud Minnesotan, seeing bands like NATL PARK SRVC and Dad Bod among the lineup made me incredibly happy. — E.N.

Brewster

Many are saying that country music is the original emo (It’s me, I’m saying that a lot lately), and Brewster was no exception to this ideology. The New Jersey-based alt-country band featured the lyricism and DIY attitude of emo, and effortlessly combined it with the twangy sound and wailing guitar solos of some of the best of 70s to 90s country rock. Their set consisted mainly of their newer tunes coming from their spring album Honey Shake Me, but the band took plenty of time to jam out at every opportunity and show off the technical skill of their members on guitar, bass and keys. With mixed-genre bills being something of a controversy in DIY spaces, Brewster’s twangy psych-rock and genre-bending style was absolutely unquestioned on the lineup, and became one of the most memorable new artists for me through all of Fauxchella. — J.F.

Cheem

I’ll level with you, prior to Fauxchella, I don’t think I had ever listened to a single Cheem song. All I knew about the band going into it was that there was apparent discourse on how to pronounce the band’s name so I truly had no idea what to expect. One of the many bands that I heard for the first time over the weekend, Cheem absolutely blew me away with their range of genre-bending music. One of the most memorable of the set was “Mango” off of their album Guilty Pleasure, which quickly became my favorite song. The set had people movin, groovin’ and even doing the worm. —E.N.

Newgrounds Death Rugby

Newgrounds Death Rugby’s musical flexibility leaves the room at one moment dancing their hearts out and at another moment screaming and shoving in the pit. Nothing demonstrated this emotional whiplash in the pit more than the back to back NGDR-hits, “D&D is Gay (But So Am I So This Tracks)” to “Hate One An Otter” played to an adoring audience. The stage consisted of the band ripping riffs that switched between floaty-shoegaze tones and crunchy thrashing chords. Intermixed in this cacophony was the lead singer, Danny, running, dancing and jumping off of every surface available and exciting the crowd at every opportunity. Newgrounds Death Rugby is unrelentingly fun. —J.F.

Michael Cera Palin

Anytime I get to see Michael Cera Palin, it's a good day, and this show was no exception. With a set full of technical issues consisting of sound issues, broken strings, and two out of two bass straps breaking mid-song, the energy never faded once. MCP’s setlist was scattered with all the hits you’d expect from their two short EP’s, including “Portrait Of A Woman On A Couch With Cats,” “Go Home. Play Music. Feel Better," "Laughing Makes it Worse,” and the ever present cover of Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy”. Despite the small discography (or maybe because of it) each song featured a raucous crowd singing along to every single word with passion. Besides the hits, the band got the chance to throw in a few new songs that are expected to make their way on to their new LP sometime soon, including a new song called “Murder Hornet Fursona” that I can’t wait to blast over and over after it comes out. For a band that has had such an explosion of popularity for their older music, I'm excited as ever to see them back on stage and working on new projects. —J.F

Day Two Gallery

Day Three

By Day Three of Fauxchella VI we were extremely tired from spending the last two days moshing, screaming and all-around having fun listening to some of our favorite bands for twelve hours a day. Despite this, we were ready and rearing to get back in the pit on Sunday, with only a bit of artificial energy coming from a large cold brew coffee or two. The lineup for Sunday was especially exciting because it was an awesome mix of our fellow friends from Wisconsin (EMWAY, Tiny Voices, Honey Creek and The Sinner and the Saint) as well as a huge list of more unfamiliar bands that would turn out to be some of the most unique performances of the whole weekend (HummusVacuum, Ben Quad vs. Arcadia Grey, and Khaki Cuffs). In addition to the Sunday shows we were looking forward to, Day Three featured one more unofficial surprise…

Equipment Solo Set

Around 9:30am on the Saturday of Fauxchella, Equipment posted an announcement that vocalist Nick Zander would be holding an acoustic playthrough of Ruthless Sun, the band’s first full length album from 2018. Immediately, I tracked Jesse down and we both decided that our attendance was mandatory. Upon arriving at “The Swarmyard,” we made our way into the basement to join the crowd of fellow Quippy fans that were sat on the floor, unwavering attention on Zander, who was accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. The performance was gentle (no earplugs needed) and the emotions were raw and beautiful as the crowd joined in singing whenever the occasional lyric was forgotten. —E.N.

HummusVaccUM

HummusVacuum’s set started with me getting flashbacks to school presentations when they whipped out their Ipad, and started a powerpoint presentation on the screen behind them while talking about the 1777 Battle of Saratoga. My fear of actually learning something this weekend, however, instantly dissipated when the band went straight into a song called “Steal From Corporations.” The rest of HummusVacuum’s set was an incredibly well-thought out mix of comedic songs like “Forklift,” “Roommates” and just one song about foreskin, all with an equally smart complimentary presentation playing in the background. Besides the occasionally goose-related jumpscare, the whole set was a hilarious time that was never short of a surprise when the next song started. The funniest part of the entire set, though, might be the attendees who brought the aptly named band some hummus and pita bread following their last song. —J.F.

Ben Quad vs Arcadia Grey

The third and final battle set of Fauxchella, Ben Quad faced off against Chicago’s own Arcadia Grey. The set opened with confusion, Nat from Arcadia Grey was missing? Turns out, they were kidnapped by Ben Quad as an attempt to deter them from performing at their best. Nonetheless, Arcadia Grey persisted, both bands delivering one of the best performances of the weekend. Amidst heckling, attempted tying shoes together and guitar theft, the riffs were incredible and the energy was unmatched. The battle set featured covers of not one but two iconic midwest emo songs, Arcadia Grey with “Your Graduation” by Modern Baseball and Ben Quad with “Cinco De Mayo Shitshow” by Marietta, the entire room erupted when those guitars started tapping. Ultimately the battle set ended in a kiss between Sam of Ben Quad and Coraline of Arcadia Grey, proving love really does win. —E.N.

Honey Creek

With all the forces of the universe (sickness and getting run off the highway) trying to prevent Honey Creek from getting to Fauxchella VI, their arrival on Sunday has proven once and for all that “you can't kill the Creek!” Milwaukee’s own pop punk superstars, Honey Creek, took to the main stage in their matching all-white attire to completely rock the place and do no less. As a self-described “Honey-Creeker'' myself, I was right there in the pit singing along to "iQuit,” "Burnt Bitter” and “Dollar Signs” off of their 2023 release Self Preservation. With a plethora of hits and new music on the way, my only gripe with the performance is that they couldn’t play longer! —J.F.

Excuse Me, Who Are You?

Going up to anyone in the Wisconsin scene and going “excuse me, who are you?” is quite possibly one of the most overused midwest emo jokes I have in my repertoire (narrowly beating out the “Two Beers In” jokes when attending a Free Throw concert) and I will never stop saying it. At the forefront of the Wisconsin emo scene you will find the one and only Excuse Me, Who Are You?. This band has been somewhat of a religious experience for me every time I’ve seen them and Fauxchella was no different. The track “Chicken Cock” had become my anthem for the weekend, as it was very often 3am, and I could not sleep. The crowd was ecstatic as EMWAY brought their all, including guitarist Stuart Benjamin standing on an amp to kick off the set. One of the most energetic sets of the weekend, EMWAY is always a delight to see. —E.N.

Tiny Voices

Like I said in the preview article, Tiny Voices is definitely the band on the Fauxchella roster I knew the most lyrics to. One of my favorite emo bands in the Wisconsin scene right now, the group absolutely rocked the side stage. Playing songs from both EPs they’ve released, the entire room was singing along (save for the unreleased track that they closed out their set with). Personal favorites from their set included “Anything, Anyone” from Where the Time Went and “Where My Dawgz At?” from Make Up Your Place, although I might be a little biased on that last one because I got to join them for the feature. —E.N.

The Sinner and the Saint

When we asked our fellow Wisconsin native, The Sinner and the Saint, what the weirdest thing they brought to Fauxchella VI was, we were absolutely not expecting a life-size Grimace inflatable to be joining them on stage later that day. Grimace was apparently their fill-in guitarist for the weekend as their normal guitarist was having car trouble and couldn’t make it to Ohio in time for the show. Despite their newbie guitarist filling in, The Sinner and the Saint still filled their room with their self-described “sad songs from a silly band” and got the crowd dancing. With a healthy mix of older tracks like “Supermarket” and “The Titanic.. was a Ship” along with a few newer tracks to spice up the set, The Sinner and the Saint leaves us wanting more, which they say is coming “soon, we promise”.

Khaki Cuffs

Another victim of scheduling conflicts, Brody Hamilton of Khaki Cuffs, found the usual lead vocalist, guitarist and occasional banjoist behind the drum kit for a one-of-a-kind set this Fauxchella. Hamilton dubbed this performance a “Khaki Cuffs Karaoke” and set up a vocal mic in front of the audience while he took to the drumsticks to play live over his own pre-recorded guitar and bass tracks. The set started slowly enough with Hamilton taking the lead on vocals, but as the songs started picking up pace a bit, Khaki Cuffs found themselves a new lead vocalist: the entire audience! Turns were taken on the verses, with excited audience members hopping up to the mic for a few lines, but the whole crowd came alive on the choruses to scream out each word together. This all resulted in easily one of the most fun and interactive sets I’ve ever seen, and bringing people together to sing along to their favorite songs is what DIY is all about!