Faith no More, support: Gogol Bordello @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Colorado 08/09/15

So my first trip to Colorado came about one night in Vegas talking about concert venues and realizing that Faith no More was playing at Red Rocks. After a nice trip of around a thousand miles I had spent a day in Denver and on Tuesday it was finally time to go see FNM! Doors were at 7 pm so I planned on arriving around that time, and although not knowing the way or the venue I was parked by 6:45, and had time to get “mentally” ready for the show. As often along the road this year, things just worked out for this one. I got my ticket through a friend’s friend, and ended up having a perfect seat right in the middle of the amphitheatre with a perfect view and perfect sound. As I walked up the stairs to the entry I noticed that everyone had paper tickets, and they were tearing them at the entrance, I of course only had the digital version on my phone, and right as I got to the entrance the scanners started working again so I got in with no delay or problem whatsoever.

As I had some time on my hands, I walked all the way to the top to take in the view and check out the venue, which is one hell of a place to see any band! Not many venues that will hold up to this one in regards to atmosphere and sound as well, and certainly not when combining the two. The only thing missing would be a small floor in front of the stage for the people that really care to dance. Other than that, unquestionably one of the best venues ever.

Gogol Bordello took the stage around 8 and just before that I met the guy who sold me my ticket. I had seen GB before and had not been very impressed, but this time around they sounded better, and they also have musically improved over the last 6 years, or at least that is the way it is in my mind. I think they played for about an hour and about half of the crowd was on their feet, dancing a little and cheering. I had to get up and dance as well, so I really dug the show contrary to my expectations. The light show was quite nice for GB, and created a great atmosphere in this extraordinary venue!

Faith no More took the stage at 9:30 pm, and as quite often along this tour started the show with Motherfucker, which live sounds as great as on the album. Without much of a break they launched into Be Aggressive, Caffeine and Everything’s ruined, all 3 of which simply kicked ass, and sounded stellar! Mike Bordin on drums took the occasional breath from the Oxygen tank, and still pounds his drums like a beast. Mike Patton was a little interactive with the crowd, making a few jokes about the Cannabis Legalisation in Colorado, and all the others seemed to be doing fairly well, and looked like they are all having a lot of fun playing! They also seemed to enjoy the venue, and mentioned it more than once as a beautiful place. They are spot on with that! Indeed a magical place! Evidence led to some problems as Roddy’s’ keyboards failed, and they had to swap to the backup. The rest of FNM did really well covering the loss of an instrument and Evidence still sounded great! Mike Patton went for a short crowd surf, which was probably a weird one, as people tried to pass him up the steps of the amphitheatre. Right as they launched into Epic the keyboards were back, and it all went on as if nothing happened, professionals, not more to say there. Black Friday sounded gnarly, although personally I would have loved to hear Cone of Shame instead. Midlife Crisis was the usual crowd pleaser and when the band went quiet the crowd covered the chorus. Mike then went on with the following: “Ok, but we’ll show you how it’s done”. They then went into a sort of funk version of the song before finishing it in the regular way. The full setlist is below the article. A few more songs that really stood out for me were, Separation Anxiety, The gentle art of making enemies, and King for a day. The finished the set with Superhero which sounded more powerful than on the album, and thus was more pleasing to me.  They came back after a short break for a 3 song encore finishing the night with We Care a lot. The light show for FNM was even better than for GB, as they were the headliner they got to use the Red Rock behind the stage more and did an unreal job at that! A fantastic night overall! Unfortunately the show was over after only 84 minutes inclusive of the encore. To me that is and always will be too short. But oh well, I’d rather see 84 minutes than nothing!

Set List

Motherfucker Be Aggressive Caffeine Everything's Ruined Evidence (no keyboards some technical issue...) Epic Black Friday Midlife Crisis Last Cup of Sorrow The Gentle Art of Making Enemies Easy (Commodores cover) Separation Anxiety King for a Day Ashes to Ashes Superhero

Encore: This Guy's in Love With You (Burt Bacharach cover) Matador We Care a Lot

Sonisphere Festival - France with Machine Head, Marilyn Manson, Meshuggah, and Faith No More !!!!! 07.07.12 Galaxie Amneville

Sonisphere Festival - France with Machine Head, Marilyn Manson, Meshuggah, and Faith No More !!!!! 07.07.12 Galaxie Amneville We got to the venue around 16:30, as we were in no rush, we smoked a few more in the parking lot before heading in… The venue was not bad at all, the second stage being an outdoor stage, and the main stage inside the Galaxie.

The first gig we attended was Machine Head on the main stage, which was a solid rock show, I had not listened to them for a while, and they were not bad, although as far as the sound goes, it could have been better, a bit less volume might have helped on the over-steered front…

I heard Combichrist on the second stage from afar, and what I heard did not pull me any closer.. We headed back into the main hall just before Marylin Manson took the stage… And although I like a few of Manson’s album the show at Sonisphere was miserable at best! The sound was shitty as hell, vocals were often not discernible at all, and Manson looked as though he was bored at best, the rest of the band did not seem to be having much of a good time either.. In my humble opinion Manson is done, maybe has been done for a few years, unless with a future album and tour he can get back to such intense performances as on the Antichrist Superstar tour in the 90’s.. The most extreme and shocking act performed was Manson stabbing a self-portrait…. At least we used to the time to get higher, smoking spliff after spliff.

We watched Meshuggah from a bit further back, not wanting to miss a second of the FNM gig. But Meshuggah was the first sign of hope for the day, delivering their metal in a most powerful fashion, with a crisp and clear sound!

Back into the main hall for Faith no More! The stage set up was all white, even the roadies were dressed all white; stage decorations were lots of flowers, perfectly fitting with this year’s tour poster the “Death Notice”. They opened the concert with Woodpeckers from Mars, to which I had to light a joint right away, and what an opening it was, at this point everyone was on stage except Patton. From Woodpeckers they went into covering Tom Jones’ Delilah ! As the rest of the band, Patton was dressed all white, whit the addition of a hat, the now seeming obligatory cane, and what looked like a red satchel.. On to Land of Sunshine and Caffeine at which point I was totally losing my mind, rocking out my soul.. A little chill out with Evidence, all in a perfectly crisp and clear sound, unlike most of the previous acts, Faith no more actually also has a sound tech that is a professional! When it came to digging the grave, I could not hold back anymore, I looked at my friends, and motioned forward towards the mosh pit, as around us people were not really losing their minds, I moved forward and F. joined in the fun as well! What a freaking boiler room the mosh pit was – almost as hot as FNM back in the summer of 97. After Last cup of Sorrow, I was about ready to collapse, wet from head to toe, as was the band. They did a zen meditiation on stage, but of course it was a Faith No More meditation, and as such was an absolute mind blow! The fact that I was smoking more weed sure helped as well. Roddy Buttom told the crowd they came out of San Francisco, and that that shit (the Zen meditation) really works! To which Mike responded if it did not, this would sure do the trick, and they performed Spirit! This blew my mind, as I had never seen them perform this one! Then came Epic, which as always was epic! Midlife crises followed, and as during the last years, it was an altered version, broken up by a C’est la Vie cover, back into Midlife Crisis! A really great performance! CUCKOO FOR CACA, another mind-blowing song, where Patton’s voice is used in full, or is there even a limit to this guy’s vocal performances? To me unquestionably one of the greatest vocalists ever! They ended Cuckoo with a noisy jam that lead right into Ashes to Ashes! Sadly then Patton announced the last track and asked the crowd to enjoy the shit out of it! And the band delivered another stellar rendition of Just a Man!

They came back for an encore, which they started with Ugly in the Morning, where the crowd lost its mind and the moshpit grew exponentially really fast! Finally a show where they did not all have a stick up their ass! Next was Easy, followed by Why do you bother / Niggas in Paris, what a fitting end for a show in France!

At some point, not sure when Patton asked what other bands the crowd had enjoyed, saying that Meshuggah is a good band right there.. And not understanding much else of what the crowd said, gave us a short: oh fuck you and into the next track. Patton humour.

Overall the performances of the day were not all that, but Faith No More sure pulled the boat around! Those guys kick ass! And they do so more intensely and powerfully than most current so called heavy bands! Despite their slightly more advanced age these 5 guys rock their souls out, and a lot of other bands sure could take that as great example of what it is to be a rock band! STELLAR PERFORMANCE! Should this be the last time I saw Faith No More it sure was a worthy one! but I sure hope they’ll keep touring! And anyone who has not seen them should do so NOW! Also a massive thumps up to Faith no more’s sound tech! That guy was the only one with a handle on the venue, at least for the indoor stage all day! Crisp and clear, not too loud, but powerful!

Set list: -WOODPECKER FROM MARS -DELILAH -LAND OF SUNSHINE -CAFFEINE -EVIDENCE -DIGGING THE GRAVE -LAST CUP OF SORROW *zen meditation snippet* -SPIRIT -EPIC -MIDLIFE CRISIS / MINI MINI C’EST LA VIE (Jacques Dutronc) -CUCKOO FOR CACA -*noise jam* -ASHES TO ASHES -JUST A MAN Encore -UGLY IN THE MORNING -EASY -WHY DO YOU BOTHER / NIGGAS IN PARIS

Guns And Roses – Soundgarden – Faith No More 30.05.1992 Cologne, Germany

Guns And Roses – Soundgarden – Faith No More 30.05.1992 Cologne. This was my first concert ever, and as you can tell from the line up, it could not have been any better! I was a sweet 14 years of age, and had only for a few years been listening more intensely to music. At that time I of course knew all the Guns’n’Roses albums, and they were on the “Use Your Illusion World tour”. Backed by two of the great bands from the 90’s Faith no More who were touring “the Real Thing”, and Soundgarden who were promoting “Bad Motor Finger”!

We were about 20 people and had rented a bus, as most of us being under 18 had no drivers licence. Luckily my brother had joined as well, as otherwise I doubt I would have gotten permission to go. We arrived around 5 pm, and set out straight to the stadium where we realized that unfortunately we had ordered grandstand seats, but wanted to be on the main floor.. We ended up sneaking past the outside fence of a bridge connecting the stands to the floor.. Luckily none of us were thickset, as we would not have made it through that space. A few others found people that gave them a used ticket to access the floor.

I was about 30 cm shorter than the rest of us, but headed out to the front with everyone else, and faith no more sure did get the crowd going already! WOW, the closer we got to the front, the bigger the pressure got, and about 50 m from the stage the crowd was just going left and right, back and forth as one large mass. The others formed a circle around me, as otherwise I probably wouldn’t have survived! But with the protective circle I was able to fully get into the music, bouncing up and down like a mad man !

Soundgarden had “Bad Motor Finger” going, which was mind-blowing as well! I had never heard these bands, but was pretty much sold for life after this show! And the main act had not even started yet! Being that I did not know any of their songs back then, but I do remember that it was one hell of a powerful concert!

Guns’n’Roses was simply staggering! I think they played around three hours, something which nowadays is very rare. The entire show, stage, and performance were Guns’n’Roses at the peak of their career, and what more can one say than it was the “Use Your Illusion Tour”! Those who were there will never forget, and those that weren’t will never know!