It’s been a trying tour for Houston-based Faceplant. Their beloved motor home is officially retired after the second transmission was deemed unfixable, even in the hands of bassist-mechanic, Chris Goudeau. The theft of Jason Self’s last guitar at Fitzgerald’s meant a large unexpected charge on the old Visa.
 

Members of Faceplant.

Their first song almost made me proud to be a Texan, but I was quickly reminded my only Texas experience was waiting for a connecting flight in the Houston Airport, hung over from this year’s New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration with a few other new-found Houston gentlemen friends I’d met in Baton Rouge (long story).

The aptly titled, “Who’s That Band” slowly won over the 4 audience members that were determined to play pool and ignore the show. As the show progressed, Billy proved much of his worth as a frontman in both realms of visual and vocal aesthetics. By the third song, “Houston Weather,” two of the pool players had already decided to buy copies of Faceplant’s “Hell Yea” CD, a compilation of their first two independent releases.

One might expect the frontman to be the main energy of the show, but that honor belongs to Bryan. Not only does he pimp for the band offstage, but he also serves as Party-Master General onstage.

Billed simply as “percussion and vocals,” this does not begin to describe what he brings to the party. Bryan’s vocals serve as a primal response to Billy’s vocal messages. In short, Bryan is the Greek Chorus gone mad.

As part of the one-man chorus, it is his responsibility to bring the most important element of the show into the fray – the audience. Faceplant is not a band content to play for an audience; they want the audience to play along. This is never more apparent then when they sing “Tap A Keg,” where the audience becomes crucial when they’re required to sing “and we’ll drink more beer!” as part of the refrain.

Bryan holds up homemade signs to prompt the audience. These signs have traveled with the band for what I can only assume to be eons as they are held together largely with packing tape. Our numbers in the audience may have been small that night, but there was no question when it came to our turn – we all sang along.

The set progressed nicely, with only a few signs that this is a band on the verge of something big with a few fledgling band gaffs still haunting them. The set list was decided amongst themselves on stage as they went along, but there were only rare moments where the decision-making turned to an actual pause in the show.

“Turn It Up” was a big crowd pleaser (if you could call us an actual “crowd” – I’ve often wondered where the fine line between gathering and crowd exists). A giant foam cowboy hat, rubber chicken and perhaps the worst fake beard since Ewan McGregor’s styling in “Attack of the Clones” were just a few more of the many vital elements that make a Faceplant show unique.

Even as two of our numbers in the audience disappeared to parts unknown, the show continued on. It was only when Jason’s guitar string broke that there were signs of slowing down. I must give Jason a lot of credit before I make it to the end of this tale. Jason is a stoic guitarist, quiet and nearly solemn when spoken to about the Jagermeister and EMI deals.

To meet him you know that Faceplant is serious business, and rightly so. In a band that recorded with two guitarists present, the responsibility in this show fell to him to make up for anything that would be missed. Jason not only accomplishes what should be an impossible task, but also does so with such finesse that you’re nearly unaware of the missing element. I was truly disappointed to find that the broken guitar string would be the end of the show.

This is a band that deserved the attention of many more people on August 8th. Named to the official Jager Band lineup at the beginning of this year, they join noted rockers like Drowning Pool, Ill Nino and Lit (not to mention the Jager sponsorship of a small thing called Ozzfest).

This is not a sponsorship they take lightly, although Bryan did explain, “we especially got the gig because our style of music allows us to really push the booze. It’s hard for a Goth band or someone who’s real serious to stop in the middle of their set and say ‘oh, by the way when I’m not slashing my wrists or hanging myself, I enjoy Jager!’ Whereas we can say ‘in between getting naked and throwing up, slam a couple more shots and keep the party going!’”

If the Jager sponsorship deal weren’t enough good news for Faceplant this year, the EMI co-publishing agreement was. As their co-publishers, EMI now works with the band on getting a record deal with a major label. This arrangement is a bit cart-before-the-horse, but one that is sure to bring Faceplant what they’ve worked hard for. Expect to hear more from this band in the future.

By the by, when you’re paying big bucks either to see them in a festival atmosphere, or as a major act, don’t try to pretend you were one of the few that saw them at the High Five in August 2002. We know who we were – even critics have their principles.

Here’s to the five Houston boys that have now proven what I knew all along – men from Houston are perhaps the most fun a gal can have away from home.