While the announcement that Faith No More will play the Coachella festival on 17 April was the news their United States fans have meeting waiting for, the re-formed rockers’ sub-headlining slot and the media reaction to the overall line-up is more sobering, illustrating perhaps why the FNM reunion has shunned a return home so far.
Initial news reports have focused more on the headliners Jay-Z, Muse and Gorillaz plus Thom Yorke and even Sly and the Family Stone. The fact that their desert date marks their return to live shows in the US – warm-up gig aside – since 1997. Enough caviling; below is a brief round-up to the Coachella announcement with a Faith No More focus:
- Los Angeles Times – Ann Powers alludes to “Faith No More’s arty take on frat-boy rap rock”, terming the line-up “a model for recessionary times”.
- E! (can’t forget that !) Online – E! somehow concludes that the lineup is one for the kids with FNM – “ who will resurrect their classic ’80s Epic sound” – relegated to the final paragraph.
- New York Times – A NYT blog goes one better and manages to avoid mentioning Faith No More at all.
- Noisecreep – Metal site Noisecreep hit the right tone, noting that “recently reunited Faith No More are confirmed for the second night of this year’s installment. It will be the first time since the band announced its reunion early last year that they’ll play on U.S. soil.”
And that is pretty much it. Maybe we’ll get more reaction tomorrow. For dedicated FNM fans the big question, of course, is when will the band’s other US dates be announced and will there be a Coachella warm-up date in San Francisco.
Let’s just hope Goldenvoice’s new “marketing strategy” isn’t too successful (except for a freak overflow of people at FNM show), lest Lollapalooza and Bonaroo, etc. decide that greed is good, and do the same…
I sure hope they do some shows in the U.S. that are not festivals! Last time I saw them was in New Orleans in 1993 and it was awesome. Puffy hit himself with drum sticks at end of show and was bleeding. I have listened to Patton since ’91 faithfully. I have no desire since I am now in my upper thirties to go to a festival with teenagers that have no clue who FNM is or Patton!
“Man, I’m sorry I sound like I’m on the rag but things like this really bug me.”
I agree. I haven’t been to a festival in ages, I think the last time was when I took my girlfriend’s kids and their friends to a Warped tour (“C’mon kids, we’re going to the Warped tour. OK, this is how MUNI works, don’t make eye contact with any of the crazy people”) We’re kind of spoiled living in SF because we’re used to free block parties or free parties in the park so it’s kind of hard to justify $270+ for a concert.
Then again, people will spend anywhere from $1,000 – $10,000+ to go to Burning Man so go figure.
I look at the festivals as being a catalyst for making a tour happen. Download was the catalyst that made the FNM tour happen, which is kind of funny when you hear reports of all these metalheads getting pissed off during Easy and Evidence. The rock gods really do have a dark sense of humor.
Plus you get a ton of live footage from dozens of different angles after a festival. Most of them are crap, but every now and then you’ll find a gem that’s worth the price of admission. Especially if you didn’t pay a cent to go but still get to check out the videos online for free! Ha.
WELL that’s too bad. I went searching for the original info and this is what I found instead on the Coachella FAQ:
“Is a 3-day pass three separate tickets?
No. It is one ticket that you exchange for one wristband that is good for the entire weekend. ”
Sorry for misleading anyone. I DID see a one-day option but maybe it was falsely reported by a website, or maybe Coachella changed their mind?? I dunno.
I would still have some hope until Friday morning but otherwise that really blows. Though I’m going for all three days (must see Vultures, Yorke and Albarn) I had friends who were planning to just go for one or two 🙁
OH WELL. This ain’t their only US show!
I saw the one-day ticket thing mentioned somewhere on the Coachella site (though now I can’t of course!) I’m fairly positive there will be that one-day ticket option popping up on Friday morning when they go on sale…can’t say it will be reasonably priced though!
Lusty said somewhere that you can buy a 1-day Coachella ticket starting this Friday at 10am.
I can’t see why they would force people to buy 3-days – do they think they are the only chance people have to see these bands?
Also want to add that I had no clue up until this morning that with Coachella it’s either a 3 day ticket or nothing at all. I would actually probably go if it was a 1 day $100 ticket, but I don’t want to be forced to subsidize 3 days of shows full of bands I’ve either never even heard of or would immediate tune out on the radio. I’m almost positive Lollapalooza and most other multi-day festivals offer single day tickets for slightly above what the 3 day divided by 3 cost would be. That’s another thing that’d tick me off.
Man, I’m sorry I sound like I’m on the rag but things like this really bug me.
Dan summed it up very well.
And I’d gladly fork over $270+ for a blistering FNM club show and a bunch more FNM merch for my collection. It would just bug me to no end having to shell that money out when they’d be getting a tiny slice of the pie and I’m surrounded by a lot of dipshits waiting for the latest flavor of the month bands that Patton, Puffy, Roddy and Billy hate anyway.
I’m fully prepared to go to any and all LA, SD and anywhere in between FNM-only shows.
How many years have we been waiting for them to do a show? It’s all about priorities. Fuck it. I’ll see them at Coachella and in SF.
Well, looking at the underwhelming and predictably ignorant press reaction, it becomes a bit more obvious as to why it took FNM to book a show in the States.
Well it’s all about marketing these days and FNM is running a pretty bare-bones DIY campaign. They’re not really doing interviews and I don’t see them hiring a small PR army like most other artists.
I’m perfectly OK if the major media wants to ignore them. That means there’s a greater chance of getting those SF warm-up tickets before they sell out. I’m going to be pissed if that turns out to be one of those shows that sells out on the internet in seconds and then those same tickets show up on craigslist later that day for a couple hundred dollars.
FNM will never gain mainstream media appeal because they have always been the wildcard. The general consensus seems to be “Are they being serious? Is this song a joke? Because if it is, they’re singing it pretty well… but there’s no way it can be serious. This band is a joke. Look at the singer as he flops around like a dying fish. One hit wonders.”
Dark, tongue-in-cheek humor doesn’t work well with hypersensitive media-type weenies that try to cater to as many people as possible with asinine labels like “post-punk”, “post-emo-pop-rap”, and “lo-fi-alt-fusion”.. The fans know that the band represented a whole new level of music that was light-years ahead of its own time. They’ll never get their due respect from the media.
And as a rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth FNM fan, I am completely at peace with that. I have not attended a concert in 5+ years, but I will shell out whatever amount of money it takes to go.
Holding out for a smaller venue in SAN FRAN!!!! AND New York or east coast, AND Chicago or midwest, AND Houston or southern states, just need that intimacy 😉 Being spitting distance from Mike is the place to be!! I went to Mexico last year and got up front for 2 shows – worth every last penny 😀
Kevin – I would much rather see them play a small theatre show in SF but I’ll take what I can get. Hopefully they still will do a warm-up show there (or cool down?) and I can see both. But I’m slightly torn too as if they DO do a SF show, it has to be very close to the Coachella dates. I’m up here in Vancouver Canada, I can’t afford to keep coming to California lol.
We should all just meet up before the show and take control of the front so the band can see the REAL fans 🙂
Lusty
I’ve been dying to see Faith No More, but I’m not keen on the idea of paying $270 plus fees, wading through stinky teenagers, fighting through a 100K car traffic jam just to see an abbreviated FNM set since I’m not interested in any other band.
I’d be much more comfortable with the situation if FNM had already announced other Southern California dates so I could see a full FNM set with FNM fans that won’t just stand there staring like I’m assuming 85% of the Coachella crowd will do. I’m really, really torn here.
I was just in the record store in Palm Desert (in Coachella Valley) and told the man there he better get more FNM shirts in. They actually did have some (The Real Thing) and he said two people had already called that morning and asked about them – fans are out there! In the end the shirt was too big, managed to walk away with a Mr Bungle sticker though, lol.
But yes, such a HUGE shame more people don’t know too much about the band.
Yet, you know, I kinda like LOVING a highly underrated band!
PS one of the first articles I read this morning about the line-up didn’t even mention FNM either, so for a split second I was heartbroken 😛
Co-headliner! This should be interesting. Most 25 and unders don’t really know the band. This will be an nice opportunity to bring in new fans!