SHOW REVIEW: Faith No More, Brixton Academy, London (10/6/09)

And The Circle Of Life Is Complete
Wednesday 10th June 2009
Brixton Academy, London
　

Those of you who know me will know I’ve been waiting for this day for the best part of 15 years. Faith No More are my all time favourite band and have been since my early teenage days, and their Live from Brixton video got an almost constant running in my parents video player. So when they announced their Brixton show for 2009 there were many sleepless nights until the day arrived.

Their support was a band named Selfish C*nt – an interesting phrase to have to impart to any customer who asked the name of the support act. With a name like that I wasn’t expecting a lot but surprise surprise they were excellent. They were a tight driving force with an old school driving rock style, and a lead singer whose make up and wild dance moves would rival those of Iggy and Mick Jagger. Unfortunately the crowd was mostly of the make persuasion and became unnecessarily offended by the singer’s prowess and started booing after every song. Its quite clear this band will find it hard to go far with such a unique name but they certainly didn’t deserve to be ignored or booed.

The Faith No More arrived in a cloud of darkness, but easily spotted in their bright pastel coloured trousers and collared shirts. Though I know it would have been too good to be true I was secretly and slightly disappointed not to see Big Jim saunter on stage with them. Opening with a cover of Peaches’ ‘Reunited’ they slammed into ‘The Real Thing’ and it was on for young and old. The set was no less than perfect for me as they played all my favourites: RV, Epic, Land of Sunshine, Midlife Crisis, Ugly in the Morning, Ricochet, Evidence, Just A Man… All amazing songs, all played by an amazingly tight band with a front man that has never been rivalled in charisma and who’s musical genius has spawned many quality acts including Mr Bungle, Fantomas and Tomahawk.

With all that gushing out of the way I will admit they were a little rough around the edges with timing and out of tunes riffs from time to time. But after leaving such a legacy and being out of action for 11 years I think they can be forgiven, the best part being you could see they were having fun. After a second encore Brixton Academy was left in awe and many stood their ground for a 3rd encore until the house lights finally came up.

So after more than a decade out of action, and 19 years since their original ‘You Fat Bastards: Live from Brixton Academy’ album was released, Faith No More still have it. It’s it. What is it?