FAN REVIEW OF FAITH NO MORE SEATTLE SHOW

Photo: Niffer Calderwood

Frank Quinn travelled from Glasgow Scotland to the musically historic Seattle to see FAITH NO MORE. He has kindly written an in depth analysis of the show, thanks for sharing Frank.



Damn the line was huge but we didn't care as the excitement levels were building. You could feel the electricity in the air and everyone in line was just smiling and laughing. It was a happy place to be. As we get near the front of the line this is when Amy realises the tickets she has brought for her and Nicole are for the wrong show.......argh!!! I thought I was gonna faint.....luckily after much panicking (on my part not the girls) Amy jumped in a cab and returned with the correct tickets. Disaster averted. What was even better was that we hadn't missed the support act and arrived just in time. What to say about Christeene......to sum up in a few words....ummmm......Alice Cooper's and the Heath Ledger Joker's love child on crack with two half naked male back up dancers. She/he is a combat drag queen, which means messy make up and a fuck you attitude. Camp. Yes. Crazy. Yes. Great music. Yes. Totally insane. Yes. Disturbing. Yes. Did I enjoy. HELL YES!!! It was performance art and stand up comedy rolled into one and great to watch (this will be my full review as Christeene also performed in Portland the next night, which some great changes to the act the second night).

And now onto Faith No More themselves. I'm gonna give you the Seattle setlist to digest in detail.
Motherfucker was a great opener and is better live than the recording. The guys had totally taken charge from that first second and the crowd was loving it. The swagger as they knew they had the crowd from the first note was discernible and the atmosphere was outstanding. Right down front was too hot and crushed for my liking so I moved a little ways back to enjoy the show. Land Of Sunshine was next and the crowd went apeshit crazy and I do not blame them. It's been one of my favourites for years and it is a beast of a song live. This is when I started to hear or think I was hearing that Billy Gould's bass was louder in the mix and that he had made his basslines a lot more funky than usual. Caffeine was it's brutal best and the heading was in full effect throughout the crowd. I a managed to accidentily headbutt a guy in the ass as I was bent double really going for it. One apology later and boom Ricochet is dropped. Wow.....pulling this out of the bag for this show. Always great for the singalong and just as the crowd is well and truly in heaven they move straight into Evidence. This is my favourite getting your breath back and swaying gently song and I've never heard Mike Patton sing it better. I took a second to just scan the crowd and can see all those smiling and ecstatic faces and I can't help feeling that this is home Epic was next and got a wilder reaction than I've ever seen in Europe. Guess it's been so long since the American audience has seen that they don't have the boredom factor us European fans have with Epic. Personally I'd drop the song from the set for a while, but it was at this point I could hear murmerings about Bill's bass sound and it wasn't just me it was changed up and damn more funky.
Sunny Side Up from the new album Sol Invictus was next and I have to say it was fantastic. Groovy and funky and not out of place with the classics. Dunno if it was the first time they played it or not but I am honoured to have it live before the majority of us European fans. Roddy Bottum's keyboards stopped working halfway through so it may sound even better. Get Out was it's fast paced and punky self and you could see that Mike Bordin really enjoyed playing it live as he was grinning from ear to ear at the pit erupting in front of him. Midlife Crisis was simply sublime and for more than one reason. The song itself is always welcome in any FNM setlist but this time it was a bit more special. Halfway through they song they stopped playing.....glanced at one another and then broke into what I can only as a George Clinton-esque remix version of the song. Now this was something to behold. Roddy was grooving on the keyboards and John Hudson's guitar was so so damned funky. Guys that was a joy to behold and made me and the rest of the crowd grin from ear to ear. Last Cup of Sorrow was played next and still sounds as awesome live as it ever did. In fact Billy really changed up the bass sound on this making it sound better than ever. Gentle Art Of Making Enemies got the pit going again and gave Roddy a bit of a breather so he could take in the crowd going crazy and he wandered off stage at the wrong.
The noise from the crowd erupted and I turned to my right and there was a crazy bastard crowd surfing......in his fucking wheelchair. I have never seen that in the flesh before and it was just as crazy as it sounds. I thought Mike Patton's eyes were gonna bug out his out his head. Just as well the next song was Easy and damn it was sang and played at it's sexy best. He even had a cigarette thrown up on stage to smoke during the song, totally floating the no smoking indoors Seattle law. Go Mike.....cos I took the chance to have a quick smoke too.
Spirit from Introduce Yourself was played next and it was a much a shock for the Seattle fans as it was for the fans at Hammersmith when they played it live. I can see this being a set staple for a while and it is quick magical to behold. King For A Day was next and I love that song so much. It was magificient and imperious and one of the finest songs on the same named album. Ashes To Ashes blew me away. It's my all time favourite song and damn I've never heard it played better. It might simply be that The Paramount has better sound than any venue I've been in before but.....wow. Superhero closed the show before the encore and is a giant of a song live. Mike and Roddy bouncing back and forth with lyrics and Billy, Puffy and John grooving together. My favourite studio recording off the new album so far. This Guy's In Love With You opened the encore and I had a grin on my face as I've always wanted to hear it live. Simply bliss and also had me laughing too. During the song a girl was up on someones shoulders and took her top off.....much to Mr Patton's disgust. He turned his head and blocked the view and told her at the end to get her clothes back on. Please learn ladies that he doesn't like that shit at his shows.
Cone Of Shame was the second to last song played and I bounced about like a loon as I'd been hopeful it would be played at one of the dates. Damn I'm digging this song and can't wait to hear the studio recording. Mark Bowen was the surprising closer, but Roddy explained that this was due to the man himself being in attendence. Unfortunately he didn't get up to play with the band but you can't have everything.
So that is 4 tracks from the new album heard so far and I feel lucky with that.

What a show.....I truly was blessed with such a great setlist.