Faith No More at Hordern Pavilion Sydney video, set list and more

Jon told me (backstage in Sydney) that the media is basically ignoring them due to the media ban the band has in place. He also said the media ban is due to how time consuming talking to the media is, which was a contributing factor to the break up.

@TheLittleKat: I asked Jon about the possibility of them recording new material. He said that none of them have thought about/spoken about what will happen after they finish the second coming. He said once the tour is done they will figure out what they will do from there.

Exactly one year ago today, a noise passed through my lips not dissimilar to that made by a hyena on heat. Lingering in the depths of my diaphragm for nearly a decade, the sound was jolted out of me by nineteen words – “We’ve decided to hold our collective breaths and jump off this cliff….BACK, GOD FORBID, INTO THE MONKEY CAGE!!!”

In the year since Faith No More announced they would be “giving it another go”, fans the world over have been cradling their King For A Day tour t-shirts and spinning Angel Dust in frantic anticipation of the second coming. And as I stand on day 361, immersed in a throng of black-clad disciples, heaving from an electrocuting mix of testosterone and adrenalin, it is disarmingly evident that the time is nigh.

Slinking on stage to the sultry sound of John Barry’s Midnight Cowboy, all peach suit and melodica, Mike Patton is at first glance more Andy Williams than Metal Messiah. Over the course of 20 songs and two encores, Patton will tease us relentlessly with these two conflicting personas – one moment conducting us to sway in unison whilst he croons through Easy, the next propelling us into an head-banging frenzy, whilst he stalks the stage spitting out the words to Ricochet. It is confusing, exciting and pure Faith No More.

There is nothing more superb than watching a band that has been playing together for twenty years with a back-catalogue as immense as FNM’s. Always phenomenal players, Puffy, Billy and Roddy prove that age (and a ten year break) has only made them stronger.

More importantly, however, each member is also so evidently overjoyed to be standing in the room, feeding their fans what they have wanted for so long. There is not a whiff of “we like our new stuff better than our old stuff” or “we did it for the money”. And the crowd responds to this accordingly.

Patton conducts his men through the kind of set-list dreams are made of (except perhaps for those who live in hope of Falling To Pieces being played live). Caffeine, Epic and a deafening The Gentle Art of Making Enemies are all mopped up by a sea of adulators.

We are unashamedly put under a Patton-induced trance and when he raises an eyebrow whilst musing “whatever you are doing out there Sydney, you are doing it well”, I swear you can hear the audience blush.

Interestingly, Ashes To Ashes conjures the biggest reaction of the night (or perhaps we had simply been encouraged by Patton’s seductive praise), and when the band finish on Just A Man one song later, there is no doubt that they will be returning for more.

After two encores, which include Digging The Grave and Introduce Yourself, Patton leaves us with an unusual parting gift – a cover of Sparks’ This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us. But frankly after two hours and 20 songs, we will take whatever he wants to give us.

Now, as we sit back in our lounge-rooms listening to Angel Dust on repeat, wearing our Second Coming t-shirts, we can only hope that one day in the not-too-distant future there will be a third.

I think today is the one-year anniversary of their reunion announcement. I’m glad they made it this far without killing each other! Here’s to many more 🙂

Rich, the CD was thrown onstage a minute or so before Mike threw it back out. He was being hilariously Mike.

Also- Edge Of The World= tears of happiness.

@Rich and ti mort 25: From what I remember, someone through the CD on stage. Mike picked it up, looked at it, made a joke about it being the first copy of the new album and threw it into the crowd. It was definitely a gag though (hence the fact that there wasn’t a riot trying to pick it up!)

I wonder that too, but I am sure the guys from Stubbadub got the inside scoop.
Maybe it is a money thing? I think they might add a couple LA and NY dates and this is it.

It wasn’t the new FNM CD!
Someone in the crowd threw the cd on stage during a song.
A few minutes later Mike threw it back saying it was the new great FNM album!

Fricking awesome show!!!

WHAT RICH? Do you think there is a possibility? Or was he screwing around?

I agree with Pilot. I’d love to see them play Mark Bowen at least once when I see them (…whenever that may be, since I live nowhere near California).

Also hoping for Kindergarden and Crack Hitler. Happy for you people but jealous as hell. Damn they’re playing 1st March, just day before my bday. If they were playing at my bday it would be soo good…

Looks like Edge of the World and A Small Victory are going to stick around for future setlists. Now if we can just add Kindergarten and/or Crack Hitler to the rotation….

Ditto on Everything’s Ruined! That’s my favorite song. I’d also love more B-sides like Cowboy song and Perfect Crime. When’s the last time they played those live? I can’t wait for Warfield.

Wow they are really shaking it up! Building up momentum for April, I hope 😉

WOW…now I really can`t wait!

Best setlist of the tour so far! Add Everythings Ruined and it’s the best set EVER! Now all I need is an announcement of some NYC dates!!!!

Well, that was just the best thing ever. Once again FNM tore Sydney a new one, and you could tell they were really going out of their way to play some real treats for the Sydney faithful.

A SMALL VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really wanted them to play this and thought that there was no chance. Boys, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Add Edge Of The World and This Town Ain’t Big Enough to the rest of the classics and you had an incredible (and mind destroyingly loud) performance

The crowd gave as good as the band, and the best quote was “We love it here so much. Can we move here and be your house band?”

Yes boys, you can.

Well that was my 6th and most probably last FNM gig in my life, but I can’t thank them enough for a weekend I’ll never forget.

To my American friends heading to the Warfield – if your shows are half as good as what we got here in their home-away-from-home in Sydney, then you’ll have the time of your lives. 🙂