Faith No More – HMV Hammersmith Apollo, 8th July 2012

With their Sunday headlining set at Sonisphere cancelled, Faith No More took the move to stay in the country and play a couple of London dates to make up for the unfortunate demise of the festival in question. Supporting them on the night at were Guano Padona (6), an Italian trio who were joined by Mike Patton onstage for one song, much to the delight of this punter, and to the annoyance of everyone who remained in the bar. That said, the appearance of Patton was the highlight of the set; the rest seemed very self-indulgent and slow.

Luckily, Faith No More (9) hadn’t taken a leaf out of their book at all. From the moment the band enter and kick in to ‘Woodpecker from Mars’, married beautifully with an interlude of Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’, you can tell this is going to be a night to remember. With no new album since their 2009 reunion, you know you’ll get hit after hit, and the band deliver – from ‘Ricochet’ to ‘Evidence’, their cover of ‘Easy’ to a simply jaw-dropping ‘Epic’, Hammersmith Apollo is treated to a spectacle nothing short of astonishing. The band are as tight as a nut, and Mike Patton is on top form; one of the finest frontman in the business. Stage banter is kept to a minimum, but that doesn’t stop the band – get this – rick-rolling a stunned audience halfway through main set closer ‘Just a Man’. Best of all though is their stage show – completely white, save for a jet black drumkit and numerous bunches of flowers lining the front of the stage and amps.

The encore showcases four songs from debut album ‘We Care A Lot’, including a first airing of ‘Greed’ for more than twenty years. This was supplemented by ‘Pills for Breakfast’, ‘We Care A Lot’ and ‘Why Do You Bother?’, the latter of which was interluded by a snippet from a certain Jay-Z and Kanye West song. A further surprise occurs when Mike Patton leads somebody behind the drumkit and leaves him there for the encore – a gentleman who it later transpires is none other than actor Danny DeVito. A second encore sadly doesn’t occur despite the crowd asking for one, but it’s only a slight dampener on what was a truly magnificent gig.

Faith No More setlist

Woodpecker from Mars (with ‘Delilah’ snippet)
Midlife Crisis (with ‘C’est La Vie’ snippet)
Ricochet
Land of Sunshine
Evidence
Everything’s Ruined
Spirit
Last Cup of Sorrow
Digging the Grave
Easy (Commodores cover)
Epic
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
King for a Day
Ashes to Ashes
Just a Man (with ‘Never Gonna Give You Up snippet)
—–ENCORE—–
Pills for Breakfast
Greed
We Care a Lot
Why Do You Bother (with ‘Niggas in Paris’ snippet)