Faith No More
Austin Music Hall, July 26, 2015
Austin, Texas, was one of the first stops on the new leg of a very long worldwide tour with a mostly-reunited Faith No More. While the ’90s are remembered as Nirvana’s decade (or at least the decade of Seattle and grunge), it was band’s like Faith No More, Living Colour and Red Hot Chili Peppers that led a huge charge across America and the rest of the listening world with their genre-smashing creative new styles. FNM’s blend of hip-hop, funk and hard rock struck a raw nerve (in a good way) for a lot of people paying attention in the last decade of the 20th century.
Hitting Austin on the first date of a new leg (after touring Europe in May and June) meant the band would probably be fresh and ready to go. Ready they were. They came on like a band with something to prove. Launching into a new song (“Mother(bleep)”) from Sol Invictus seemed natural and the band quickly found a groove and didn’t let up for awhile. It was great to see these old veterans back together, but even more so, since they weren’t sucking in the least and played like they had to work for the attention the adoring audience gave them.
Their stage was elaborate, epic and clean, like something borrowed from a Polyphonic Spree tour. The band was clad in white outfits, almost like lab coats or something the staff would wear in a mental hospital. And there were fresh flowers adorned all over the stage. The visual prepped the audience’s mind for an eclectic hayride, but the band attacked their songs with a aural heaviness and an aggression that contrasted the laid-back visuals. Frontman Mike Patton grabbed the mic and moved. He seemed happy to be there, as did all the members, who occasionally smiled, but they seriously rocked with a mission. It was only a few edges away from that hungry young band screaming for attention, but it was darn close. Kudos to the old guys for kicking out the jams as if something actually depended on it..
“Be Aggressive” and “Caffeine” followed the opener with lots of hard rhythms. They let up slightly with “Evidence,” which was the first chill-out moment of the show. It grooved and felt good.
“Epic” came next, which is kind of surprising (fifth song in?), but it was a great early peak for the show’s dynamics. The packed house at Austin Music Hall was already in the band’s hip pocket, but with this song they made sure everyone in the place stayed there. They followed this with another new one, “Black Friday,” which had a kind of B-52’s meets The Vapors kind of vibe, complete with tambourine and a romping beat. Shouts of “Fire!” almost conjured memories of Jim Morrison and the keyboard player, Roddy Bottum, doubled on guitar for this tune.
Patton said hello to the audience and made mention about the popular notion that there’s a lot of hippies in this “Keep Austin Weird” Texas city. Then they referenced a popular skinny-dipping and party spot out on the west side of town — Hippie Hollow. They seemed to delight in bringing it up, which made it kinda obvious that they must’ve visited out there earlier in the day to cool off from the Texas summer heat.
The keyboards started the popular melodic song, “Midlife Crisis.” The dreadlocked but graying drummer, Mike Bordin, showed no signs of slowing down, as he was a great visual and he pounded away on the drums, certainly holding his own end of their sound down. The lead guitar player, Jon Hudson, kept a pretty straight up-and-down posture that looked very stoic. Bassist Billy Gould grooved around like most bass players do. “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies” sounded great, too, which was fast and energetic, belaying the attitude and call of the lyrics to “put up a fight.”
This was followed by another chill moment — their fun cover of the Commodores’ “Easy.” Patton declared it was selfie time during the solo section and he snapped a few. The band quickly dialed up another churning and fast-tempo tune from their new album, “Separation Anxiety,” which kept the crowd moving. Patton coaxed some cool trippy sounds out of this multi-sampler board/stick sort of thing he played.
The crowd voiced their approval when the band started “Spirit” with a chanting intro. “King For A Day” followed, which snapped and dispensed a drum stick that soon went flying. “Ashes to Ashes” had a jangly intro and Patton brought out the bullhorn for a few choice lines. It is a very heavy tune with a big fat riff that settles into some melodic vocal delivery that’s reminiscent of FNM’s trademark sound. “Superhero,” also off Sol Invictus, wrapped up the set and just like that, one-hour and some-odd minutes of time had flown right by. Reverberated and repeated shouts of “Go! Go! Go!” lay the groundwork for a cool set-ender that calls for leaders to stand up or get back in their cage. It’s a great tune and goes over well live.
The crowd would not shut up until the band returned for an encore, which was another brand new tune called “Matador.” The stage was lit up and a disco ball effect projected flying dots all over the curtain. This was kind of a trippy tune that befit the white outfits, not unlike something early Manson or Alice Cooper would romp out, complete with piano and lots of ambient breathing room. It then turns into a story-teller that would fit well as the soundtrack to a spaghetti western. Patton even played his sampler instrument thing again. The band kind of jams out at the end. This set the crowd up for a barn-burner to top it all off — “We Care A Lot,” from the band’s official debut album. No one was apparently tired after a full grinding set by Napalm Death and Faith No More, because everyone was sure jumping around to this tune.
The crowd still wouldn’t shut up after the band left, so they came out after a few minutes. Patton basically acted like the audience was about to be punished. “You asked for this,” he said, and the band went into “This Guy’s In Love With You,” and old Burt Bacharach cover.
Faith No More delivered the goods. They are seemingly not satisfied to be a nostalgia band and rest on their laurels. They came out and rocked like a Project 86 or Marilyn Manson, not hiding behind catchy hooks but instead pummeling their audience like a metal band bent on showing off its power. I mean, instead of acting all artsy and alternative, frontman Mike Patton held the mic most of the time with his right hand wrapped around it like a fist, with his elbow cocked high and in a stance like he wanted to be as heavy as the drumming. Nice.
Reviews and (lame)* photos by Doug Van Pelt
*(I somehow left my home without my camera and didn’t figured this out until I was close to the venue and too far away to return. Apologies.)
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