Faith No More - Webster Hall - May 13, 2015
Last night Faith No More played at Webster Hall, the first U.S. tour since their 2010 reunion. After the opening band finished, (a modern Veruca Salt off their meds), a group of men dressed in all white began placing lilac flower arrangements all over the stage. Keyboardist (and my personal piano idol) Roddy Boddum joked that Faith No More hasn’t put out new music in 30 years, when in reality it’s been a long 18. Boddum said there is a big release coming out Friday, Pitch Perfect 2, then corrected himself saying he meant their new album on May 19. Mike Patton took a dig at a guy’s beard in his usual sardonic tone. The band was dressed in all white linens and looked like cult leaders, which was appropriate because the audience was mesmerized during their 90 minute plus set. The show was better than their last tour due to the addition of several new tracks, which unlike many bands who put out terrible, late-career albums, Sol Invictus fits seamlessly into Faith No More’s masterful discography.
They opened with the triumphant Motherfucker, the lead single off their new album which energized a somewhat weathered crowd as Mike Patton pointed out. Next was Land of Sunshine, the lead track off their 1992 masterpiece Angel Dust. The crowd went wild and a mosh pit formed in the very small venue and from that point on everyone near the front was pressed up against each other trying to stay standing (including me, I’m small but scrappy and always manage to get up front). Adding fuel to the fire, FNM next played Caffeine, a hard-hitting, dark-metal waltz also from Angel Dust. Mike Patton then slowed it down with Evidence, a bluesy, cool track from King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime. With little fanfare, they transitioned into Epic, the band’s biggest hit and the mosh pit erupted. They returned to a track from their new album with Sunny Side Up. I was amazed how everyone knew all the words, the album is not even out yet and just began streaming earlier this week. Up next was Surprise! You’re Dead, arguably the band’s heaviest song where I prevented a guy from falling on his head.
Mike Patton was interactive with the next song, Midlife Crisis, one of the band’s finest pieces of music off Angel Dust. He let the crowd sing for a while and mixed in a brief disco remix. Up next was Last Cup of Sorrow, the morose metal ballad off their, now penultimate album, Album of the Year. The energy amped up again for the cheeky, hard-hitting Gentle Art of Making Enemies, off King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime. Next was the Commodores cover of Easy, a welcome rest for the rowdy crowd. From here they played a new song, Separation Anxiey, King for a Day, which had some sound issues, then Ashes to Ashes. Roddy Boddum said sarcastically that it’s good news that their last song is a new one and played the second single from the new Album, Superhero, an instantly quintessential FNM track. The band thanked New York and drummer Mike Bordin approached the audience with drumsticks, with his trademark long-dreads, now turned shocking gray.
For the first encore, Patton introduced the opening track from the new album, the moving Sol Invictus which let keyboardist Boddum inject more depth and soul into the atmosphere. Up next, FNM played As the Worm Turns, the only song from either of the band’s first two albums (recorded with previous front-man Chuck Mosley). Noticeably absent was We Care a Lot, an early hit single which the band usually includes in their set list. Some of the audience didn’t know the next cover, the sappy, This Guy’s in Love with You, that reminds you just how powerful a vocalist Mike Patton is.
After leaving the stage and returning once more, FNM ended with the relatively cheery From the Dead, the final track on the new album, that Patton said hippies from their native West Coast would appreciate. The set list was well-curated given the band’s vast portfolio of music, but missing was Digging the Grave which would have fit in perfectly and ignited the mosh pit and their 1989 album The Real Thing was underrepresented.Â
This was the best audience I’ve seen at a show. Fans used cell phones sparingly, sneaking a quick pic of Patton, then instantly got back into the music. Missing were the abhorrent Millennials who record and watch entire shows through small screens, instead of being present and enjoying the show. Everyone was packed in tight, drenched in sweat, being shoved around, but we all had each other’s back. The crowd’s etiquette made the experience so much better. I left feeling so alive and energized. Next up is their August show at MSG, which will have a much less intimate feel and should be a completely different experience.Â
