Faith No More | PNE Forum, Vancouver - April 15th 2015

Faith No More's North American / Canadian tour in support of Sol Invictus was five years ago.

FNM began their Sol Invictus tour in Japan and Australia, they returned to the USA for the first time since October 1997 in April 2015. The first date was on Wednesday April 15th at PNE Forum in Vancouver, Canada. CTV NEWS | Faith No More reward the devoted in Vancouver The eyes of the rock and roll world were focused on Vancouver last night as beloved alt-metallers Faith No More began their first major North American tour for well over a decade in the sweaty confines of a full-to-bursting PNE Forum. Even before the band stepped on stage it was clear that something unusual was approaching. The roadies, all clad in what looked like psychiatric nurses’ uniforms, appeared busier arranging countless bouquets of flowers around the stage than tweaking drums and amps. When Faith No More did arrive (similarly decked out in white) they launched into the grinding martial snap of “Motherf*cker” before frontman Mike Patton greeted the crowd with the chirpy non sequitur of “Hello Canucks!” Stepping back in time for “Land of Sunshine,” the blend of old and new would prove to be a theme throughout the night. Oddness was another: the band’s flair for the weird reflected in both Patton’s between song banter (“Anybody got an espresso maker around here?) and new tracks like the Radiohead-tinged minor key “Sunny Side Up.” Not to say that Faith No More weren’t firing when the moments to rock hard and heavy were due. A pounding “Epic” arrived just six tracks into the night, and a brilliant “Midlife Crisis” followed just four songs later, amended and extended by a funky breakdown halfway through as Patton channelled a bizarre version of James Brown, “Hit me one time! Hit me two times! Hit me 18 times!” Repeatedly circling the stage like a caged tiger, a little crack from Patton about the Canucks (who had lost moments earlier) resulted in a lighter from the crowd narrowly avoiding his head. “If you’re gonna throw a lighter,” he barked, “Throw a cigarette too.” Bending the rules of what a hard rock band does is an essential part of Faith No More’s greatness and the reason why they never had the commercial success of contemporaries like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers who were willing to spoon feed tepid soft rock to radio for decades. This was and is an alleged metal band happy to deliver a straight rendition of The Commodore’s “Easy (Like Sunday Morning)” then pairing it with a swooning “Ashes To Ashes” (not a Bowie cover) and punk rock rip “Superhero.” Vancouver was also be blessed with a tiny piece of rock history as Faith No More delivered the first ever performance of the title track from their forthcoming album “Sol Invictus.” “Give it a minute,” requested keyboardist Roddy Bottum, ”then cheer like you do recognize it.” The crowd duly obliged. On a night full of quirky and noisy pleasures, it was the least they could do.

Vancouver Weekly | Faith No More showcase old talents and new album at landmark Vancouver gig

San Francisco rockers, Faith No more, delivered a powerful performance in support of a new record that is set to be released in May. In an interview two years ago, Faith No More singer Mike Patton admitted that the prospects of the band reuniting had petered out. He said the members felt conscious about the risks of compromising their legacy, something that many other bands fell victim to while trying to make new cash off old music. Yet last night saw the opening show of their date-packed spring/summer tour across North America and Europe in support of their upcoming album, Sol Invictus. The new record is their first in 18 years. And if the show at the PNE Forum is anything to go by, the band has much more on offer than just the aged version of themselves. The stage set resembled both a funeral house and a Sunday mass at a church. As soon as Faith No More kicked off the show with one of the new songs, “Motherfucker”, there came the first sigh of relief. Patton’s incredible voice was at its best, conveying both masculinity and a Billy Joel kind of sensitivity. Patton masterfully switched between styles, making the whole performance balanced. There was equal place for seriousness and sarcasm, black soul and trash metal-screaming, life and death. During “Easy”, the venue swiftly turned into a high school prom: a disco ball shone, sending out pink light into the crowd. The role of a romantic crooner proved too cheesy for Patton, and he demonstratively coughed into the microphone at the end of the song. All in all, the event was very much a “best of” kind of concert. The several teasers from the new album blended into the set organically, receiving warm approval from the audience. The two closing songs, “Digging the Grave” and final Sol Invictus track, “From the Dead”, rounded up wittingly the play of opposites. “How are we doing?” asked Patton halfway through the show. Partly joking as it was, this interaction with the crowd was another sign of the band having been self-aware of their own progression and whether the new music was going to satisfy their nostalgic fans. That concern seem understandable. When a band releases their first new material since 1998, it’s difficult to predict just where they’re going to find themselves on the current music scene. Thankfully, all these years, the band members were far from inactive. After over a decade of experimenting across all genres of music, it would only be logical that Faith No More have much more to offer now than ever. Faith No More did their best to not look like they thought too much of themselves. “Vancouver, you look like shit” was how Patton’s summed it up. “But we’re even worse.”

HMV Canada

If there is one word that describes this show, it’s epic (cheeky yet appropriate). The show was packed with pretty much every song that you would want the band to play. From newer tracks such as “Superhero” and “Motherf**ker” off their upcoming release to hits such as “Epic” and “Easy” the set-list was a very well-paced and perfectly chosen. They even played a number of songs not expected, reaching back through their entire catalogue. The band sounded phenomenal and was in fine form, which was very good news for those looking forward to seeing them on this tour. Mike Patton impressed with his amazing voice - being able to croon, to scream, to yell, and to pull off any number of vocal styles at a moment’s notice. Worth waiting 15 years for. Hopefully it won’t take as long for their next stop.

Viesmag | It’s So Cool, It’s So Hip, It’s Alright

Let us just call a spade a spade: Faith No More rocks… hard. There is another spade that is so obviously a spade that I feel it should be in the dictionary definition of it: You don’t go to PNE Forum for sound quality. Sorry, it is the truth. Now with that said, when I was last there for Die Antwoord the vocals were much more clear. On Wednesday, Vancouver was honoured with getting to witness the kick-off to the first Faith No More North American tour in over a decade (I didn’t actually fact check this, just kind of followed the herd in this notion). The fact that it was the kick-off could have meant that the sound techies hadn’t quite figured out the sound for various venues, but I am tending to lean more towards the venue for the rough sound. The PNE Forum is great for this kind of show since it had that great garage party rock feel to it (it is a big hollow hall) but if you are a pure audiophile needing that certain polished sound of say, the Orpheum, then tonight wasn’t for you. The show kicked off with an opener that kind of shook the ground that everyone had been standing on, Christeene. I only wish that we could have photographed this, because how often will you get the chance to catch a goth drag rapper that pulls down his pants to showoff his butthole to the whole audience? Probably a rare opening act. Probably an act that was more suited for a different crowd, not that Vancouver is uptight. I understand that to go from hard 80s rock to goth isn’t a huge stretch. I get that to go from a hard rock-rap to goth-rap isn’t even that big of a stretch. But going from a Faith No More fan to a Christeene fan is just far fetched. ‘Butt’, humorous as all hell and will want to see the next show. In between the two sets it was a pretty cool spectacle to see roadies place fake flower planters all over the stage. Of course, I wasn’t one of those people that had camped out at the front of the stage for hours. With an already high stage, the flowers made it more challenging for those desperate front row fans to get a clear view of the full stage. The lights went down and the band quietly made their way on stage. The crowd, on the other hand, was far from quiet. The crowd roared until they heard the familiar sound of keyboardist, Rodney Bottum, and as the spotlight turned towards him the crowd was momentarily silenced, yet happy. While all eyes were on the spotlit keyboardist, they failed to notice that the semi-nutso, Mike Patton, had made his way to centre stage. That was when the whirlwind craziness started and lasted more than a good hour. Faith No More did a great job at mixing up the setlist, playing it up to fans of all their various stages. FNM kicked the night off with Motherfucker, played Epic six songs in, went through a cover song, and played up to the crow during the encore with We Care A Lot.

Vancouver Sun | Faith No More reborn

California alt-metal group Faith No More kicked off its North American tour in support of new album Sol Invictus (out in May) at the PNE Forum in Vancouver last night (April 16). It had been more than 20 years since the band had performed in Vancouver, and Sol Invictus marks the return of Faith No More more than 17 years after the release of their last record Album Of The Year, in 1997. The group, consisting of vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Billy Gould, guitarist Jon Hudson, keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and drummer Mike Bordin, handed out a handful of tracks from the new album, including premiere performances of title song Sol Invictus and From The Dead, as well as Matador, Sunny Side Up, Motherf—er and Superhero (also known to fans as “Leader Of Men”). Patton sounded in fine form as the band barrelled through as rollicking set where highlights were classics Epic, Midlife Crisis, a cover of the Commodores’ Easy (complete with spinning mirror ball), a soaring Ashes To Ashes, and an encore performance of fan favourite We Care A Lot. Dressed all in white and with the stage adorned with large flower arrangements (in contrast to FNM’s final performances in 1998, when the band was decked in black as if playing their own funeral, Gould told me in a recent interview), it was a bizarre, carnival-esque rebirth peppered with Patton’s punk-metal growls and characteristic sense of humour, and mixed with Faith No More’s genre-bending style of rock. Epic? Certainly.

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On Tour Monthly

Set List

Motherfucker Land of Sunshine Caffeine Ricochet Evidence Epic Sunny Side Up Get Out Midlife Crisis Last Cup Of Sorrow The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies Easy (Commodores) Cuckoo For Caca King For A Day Ashes To Ashes Superhero Sol Invictus We Care A Lot Digging The Grave From The Dead

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