FAITH NO MORE headlined the NME / Radio One Stage at Reading Festival 10 years ago!

The Reading festival is one of the UK's most historic music events reaching back to the 1970s.

The headliners have traditionally been the leading UK rock acts of the time until the late 80s when Alice Cooper took one of the prestigious spots. Later in the 90s UK rock legends gave way to alternative bands such as Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Faith No More have been on the bill twice, the first on August 24th 1990.

FAITH NO MORE | READING | 24.08.1990

Faith No More were on the tail end of their two year solid tour promoting The Real Thing and had become somewhat a sensation in the UK due to success of their single Epic. Hence their top of bill spot supporting The Cramps.

Set List

From Out Of Nowhere

Falling To Pieces

Introduce Yourself

The Real Thing

Underwater Love

As The Worm Turns

The Crab Song

Edge Of The World

Chinese Arithmetic

We Care A Lot

Sweet Dreams (Nestles)

Surprise! You're Dead!

Epic

Woodpecker From Mars

Easy (Commodores)

War Pigs (Black Sabbath)

FAITH NO MORE | READING | 28.08.2009

In the later half of the 90s FNM preferred to perform at the Phoenix Festival and Monsters Of Rock (now Download), therefore after their eleven year hiatus it was nineteen years after their original performance at the festival that Faith No More returned to Reading (and this time Leeds) for their Second Coming Tour. This show received nothing but glowing reviews.

Set list

Midnight Cowboy (John Barry)

From Out Of Nowhere

Be Aggressive

Caffeine

Evidence

Surprise! You're Dead!

Last Cup Of Sorrow

Malpractice

Easy (Commodores)

Midlife Crisis

Epic

I Started A Joke (Bee Gees)

The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies

King For A Day

Ashes To Ashes

Just A Man

RV

Land Of Sunshine

NME Magazine | September 2009 | Emily Mackay

"We're here in the tent," grins Mike Patton wolfishly, red lights glinting off the diamanté trim on his Mephistophelean scarlet shirt. "Fuck all the rest of them."

Outsiders even in their glorious cash-racking comeback. Faith No More have always been an anomaly. Smarter, sexier and funnier than Rage Against The Machine or Red Hot Chili Peppers, they were the alt metal art who were really fucking alt. No genre is safe from this band, no expectation either: rather than blast onstage - big comeback! - they sidle softly through their cover of the theme from Midnight Cowboy. Then they play 'From Out Of Nowhere', and you're reminded in a rush that, however good Patton's subsequent experimentations in more avant-garde acts such as Fantomas and Peeping Tom might be, it's in this band that he found the perfected balance of jockey mainstream and arty weirdness. 'Be Aggressive' sounds sensational, the thundering roll of Mike Bordin's drums taunted by the cheerleader-chant of the refrain. 'Epic', the thinking man's 'Killing In The Name', is maliciously magnificent, Patton's remarkable, freakishly versatile voice flicking from rich booming croon to bratty yowl to death-bark at the flick of a note. Then, in case it was just getting a little bit too retro-reverential, FNM slip in a brief-but-obviously meticulously rehearsed instrumental rendition of the EastEnders theme tune. You wouldn't get that from bloody Pearl Jam, would you? The first time Patton, hamming it up,keeps a straight face. The second time those familiar plangent notes ring out, he can't help corpsing as the crowd shriek with laughter. He knows how totally ridiculous his band is. And he loves it.

NME Online

Reformed avant-garde metal band Faith No More treated the Reading Festival to a cover of the 'EastEnders' theme tune as they headlined the NME/Radio 1 Stage tonight (August 28).

After a furious rendition of 'Malpractice', singer Mike Patton, dressed in a diamanté-trimmed red suit, turned to the crowd with a wry look as the band kicked into a rendition of the theme tune, once recorded by 'EastEnders' actress Anita Dobson as 'Anyone Can Fall In Love'. They even reprised their tribute halfway through.

Coming on to chants of "Faith No More! Faith No More!", they opened with 'Midnight Cowboy', featuring Patton blowing on a melodica, before launching into songs such as 'Epic' and 'Be Aggressive'. Later in the set, Patton treated the crowd to a singing lesson. "Got that note? Happy with it?" he asked. "Now we're going to teach you rhythm. Welcome to my world, bitches." Teasing the ecstatic crowd throughout the set, Patton finally thanked them for "having been patient with us for so long", adding, "Be patient with this", before launching into an encore of 'RV' and 'Land Of Sunshine'.