Eagles impressed me about as much as their CD. I didn't hate them, but their brand of rock didn't contain enough variety to keep me interested. They knew how to work a crowd though, putting on a solid rock show with excessive glorification of drinking and naked chicks.
Between Eagles and Faith No More was the surprise special guest Neil Hamburger. I last saw the 'burger supporting Mr. Bungle way back in 2000 and remember being very unimpressed. I've since learnt his style of humour depends entirely on deliberately irritating the crowd. Faith No More's fans were his perfect outlet. He spent his time telling the same old terrible jokes about Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Courtney Love and 311 until the crowd was screaming for him to get off.
Every now and then he'd inform us excitedly that "finally, what you've all been waiting for.... more jokes." He'd joke that "Ugly Kid Joe will be on soon." When people started throwing coins at him he informed us that every coin that hit the stage was another song off the setlist. At one point a coin hit a guitar, "that's it! They're not playing Epic now." Finally, painfully, he left the stage.
When the lights went down and Faith No More were about to come on, a few in the crowd screamed "Hamburger!", proving that they'd at least been in on the joke.
Faith No More arrived on stage wearing pastel suits under the cover of low red/blue lights. Mike was holding his Melodica, meaning Midnight Cowboy was first up. It's hard to see from our spot on the floor, but apart from everyone being more than a decade older it could have been the start of either of the 1997 gigs. They sound identical. Age appears to show the most on Roddy, Jon and Puffy, but less so on Bill, hidden away up the back between Roddy and Mike where the lights don't tend to linger. Age doesn't appear to affect their playing. Patton stuffs up the Melodica in the middle of the song, but brings it home well.
Next up was The Real Thing, and while I remember Patton sounding a little off on the high notes, on refering to YouTube, I don't know what I was thinking. He sang most of his vocals like he's a 19 year old again. He wavered slightly on the verse's high notes toward the end of this epic song... but that is being hyper critical. It's fantastic to hear this song sung so well, in a mix of the almost nasal of 80s Patton with touches of modern 00s Patton's smoothness.
The rest of the band sounded great. The original member trio of Roddy/Bill/Puffy nail everything and are clearly having a great time. Jon seems a little confused at times, looking over at the other members and smiling apologetically when he stuffs up or when he's required to do backing vocals, which he always seems very reluctant and embarased to do. To be fair on him, not only did he only tour with the band for a year or so back in 1997/98, he's also playing many songs tonight he never played on that tour.
Land of Sunshine and Caffeine followed The Real Thing and both are fantastic, except I felt the middle of Caffeine lacked a bit of the build-up excellence ("say something, anything") that usually comes with hearing this song live. Patton spices up Caffeine, and a number of other songs, by using his trusty effects box to mess with his vocals. Caffeine was introduced, "here we are again, same band, same bullshit."
I've never much liked the way Jon plays Evidence (I prefer Dean's version) and the twelve years break haven't changed it at all. Jon never seems to get the wah guitar part, playing it too hard and with no subtlty.
He saved the day though by doing a killer Gentle Art ("what you got for us Jon?!"), getting the crowd well and truely hyped for Last Cup Of Sorrow, which he promptly stuffed up by coming in too early. Again I'm being hyper critical.
The band seems most comfortable with the Album of the Year material. It certainly suits Patton's modern voice more than The Real Thing era material.
Ricochet hasn't been played much on this tour, and the reason is fairly obvious as it wasn't a particularly good version, easily the worst song of the night. They played it too fast, like they wanted it over and done with quickly. The second guitar part is definitely missed, the song doesn't sound full enough, and the backing vocals are awful. I just doesn't work.
The crowd didn't seem to notice though.
Easy followed ("still having fun or are you bored? If you're bored now, you're gonna love this one"), with Patton spending much of the song off the stage down the front sharing a drink with security, exciting those crushed up against the fence, but remaining invisible to the rest of the crowd.
The singles Midlife Crisis and Epic are well received and exciting to watch. It is truly bizarre to see modern day Patton singing Epic.
It's around this point in the gig (when Epic was played) that I thought I'd feel the disconnect the Faith No More I saw in 1997 and this band. I thought Patton especially would stick out as not gelling properly.
With his microphone effects machine up on stage and his heavy use of the megaphone, Patton looked just like he does out the front of all his other bands. Not quite as obscured as he is in Tomahawk, Fantomas and Bungle... more like Peeping Tom, without the friggin' hair net. It's distracting being aware of his new job as professional front man... but Patton fits in front of Faith No More like he never left. He jumps around, he eyes-off and yells at Puffy, he laught at Jon, he spits on the idiots up front who throw bottles at him...
Ironically it was a cover that first got my spine tingling. I Started A Joke was one of their best songs of the night. The choruses were huge! The light show added to their power. Everything works. I loved it.
Even better, despite being threatened with Jimmy Barnes covers, Joke was followed by A Small Victory, a track I never thought I'd see live as they stopped playing it when Jim left in 1993. It sounded a little strange filtered through seventeen years, and it took a while (half the song) for Patton to find the right notes (the only song I'd say he had this problem with), but it eventually works.
Surprise! You're Dead didn't suffer from the filter, rocking hugely. Roddy spent the song (and probably others) wandering around behind the band taking photos with his phone.
Ashes to Ashes, as an Album of the Year song, sounded natural, but I've never understood the appeal of the song. The crowd loved it though, and I think it works better live than on the disc.
Roddy warned us that the next song is the last song. Just A Man, favourite set ender since the 1995 tour. Patton wandered over to stage right and sat on top of a speaker during the verses leading up to the spoken word part of the song. As he started ranting about Icarus everyone pulled out their phones and cameras to start filming and as he finished with "but me, I am Just A Man" he dived into the crowd like some kind of early 90s rock god. Despite being held above the heads of the crowd he misses only a few words of the chorus as he fought he way back to the stage. The song ends with Patton conducting the band through some musical build ups to finish with one final huge "You're burning me!". We're thanked, and they leave the stage.
An encore was assumed, but the crowd called for it anyway. It is protocol.
Of course they returned. Patton rags on "Poms" for a while. "You guys are prisoners, we used to be prisoners."
If I hadn't have spoilt myself earlier in the day, I'd have been stunned to hear the first few notes of Edge of the World, but I was excited anyway. It is a huge pity then that Patton forgot the majority of the words, singing much of it twice and eventually giving up and asking the crowd to sing it for him. It's kind of fun to watch them at least try to play something rare, and it reminded me just what it is that we were watching...
They made up for it though with Mark Bowen one of my favourite Chuck era songs, and one of my favourite songs to see the new Faith No More play. Patton's modern voice really suits this song and it sounded fantastic. Even more fun was watching most of the crowd be confused as hell, having no idea what the heck the band is playing. Love it.
Encore 2 was less assumed, so the crowd call extra hard. It is protocol.
"You guys have very poor taste, you stuck around this long, so thank you!"
We were rewarded for our persistence with a truly bizarre cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees's Switch, a song Faith No More has never done before. The crowd watched in silence, confused. It's not a particularly melodic song, and it's hard to enjoy, but watching it was like a window into what a Faith No More jam session might be like. They flowed directly into Stripsearch, surprising me by missing the little cover of Chariots of Fire they've been doing this tour.
Stripsearch ended the set and the band left the Festival Hall stage, possibly for the last time ever, "we feel like we're the house band in this fucking city, and we thank you for your patience and for your attendance. We bid you adieu."
This tour is the first time Faith No More have compiled a true "greatest hits" setlist from their whole catalog. With no new albums to support, the setlists have been wide ranging and more adventurous than I expected. They're playing as well as they ever have (except perhaps some of those mythical 1992 "Angel Dust" shows) and clearly enjoying what they're doing.
Come back again? Maybe after that new Fantomas album...
Or that new Faith No More album?