[kj] (OT) Faith No More in LA

[T.B.]

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)