[kj] (OT) Faith No More in LA

[Jim Harper]

Nice setlist. Good to see all four Patton-era albums represented, even if they do stick mainly to the hits. Cheers!

On Sat, 25/4/15, T.B. <planetary at socal.rr.com> wrote:

 Subject: [kj] (OT) Faith No More in LA
 To: "'A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)'" <gathering at misera.net>
 Date: Saturday, 25 April, 2015, 19:12
 
 Saw Faith No More at the Wiltern
 Theater in LA last night, the 3rd show of a 3 night
 stand.  Only the second time I've ever seen them, the
 first being about 25 years ago opening for Metallica.
 
 Got there a bit early and once I was wristbanded for the
 pit, spent the next hour plus people watching upstairs from
 the balcony overlooking the lobby.  Pretty eclectic mix
 of people, a lot of really fat bearded metalheads, hipsters
 in long sleeved plaid shirts, black rimmed glasses and
 beenies, older gray haired stoner types, a good number of
 younger kids fresh outta high school and a surprising number
 of good looking women!  Opening band "Flattbush" who I
 think are locals (there was a different opener every night),
 was probably the worst band I've seen in a very long time -
 one-note screamo cookie monster vox, fast pounding drums and
 constantly shreddy soloing.  The singer who was a
 skinny bald Asian kid complete with a big coolie hat tried
 hard but the music and the band was just laughably
 terrible.
 
 Once that horror show was done, I secured a spot in the pit
 on the left side a couple people back from the stage in
 front of FNM's keyboard player.  Lucky for me, it seems
 kids these days are shorter than ever, and no matter where I
 stood, I pretty much towered over anyone around me and I'm
 only 6ft tall.  The stage crew (all dressed in white,
 btw) had set up these white planters full of floral
 arrangements across the entire front of the stage so being
 up front, it was tough to see anything below the waist of
 the band on stage. With even the amps clothed in white, the
 stage looked like a flower shop.  
 
 Faith No More came on at 10pm on the money and played about
 an 80 minute set.  I believe this was one of the few
 shows they've recently played where they didn't open with
 "Motherfucker," instead opting for the more subdued "Sol
 Invictus" off the new album.  Second song was "From Out
 Of Nowhere" and the place went nuts and the band pretty much
 held that energy through much of the show.  Patton
 sounded great but the mix down front where I was was very
 bass and drum heavy.  Speaking of which, I gained a new
 appreciation for Billy Gould, his bass playing is fantastic,
 with a perfect deep tone.  Bordin just beat the shit
 out of his kit, constantly splintering sticks with roadies
 pouring bottles of water over him constantly through the
 set.  Mid-way through the set after "Midlife Crisis," I
 moved just outside of the pit over to the opposite side of
 the stage hoping for better sound mix, but unless it was a
 part of a song that featured a prominent guitar bit, the
 guitar was pretty buried in
   the mix.  The only thing I didn't "get," was the
 short fat dude dressed up in a white leisure suit with a hat
 and his face covered like the Elephant Man who would
 occasionally wander across the stage - whatever the gimmick
 was supposed to be, it slipped by me.
 
 Overall, a great show, I'm glad I went.  The Wiltern is
 always my favorite place to catch a show. 
 
 Setlist:
 
 Sol Invictus
 From Out of Nowhere
 Caffeine
 Evidence
 Epic
 Sunny Side Up
 Surprise! You're Dead!
 Midlife Crisis w/Lowdown tease
 Last Cup of Sorrow
 The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
 Easy (cover)
 Be Aggressive
 King for a Day
 Ashes to Ashes
 Superhero
 (encore)
 Motherfucker
 Digging the Grave
 This Guy's in Love With You (cover)
 
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