Watch Faith No More Give First U.S. Performance in Four Years
Faith No More celebrated Record Store Day’s Black Friday event by performing a five-song set at San Francisco’s Amoeba Records, marking their first U.S. performance in four years. “Hello, motherfuckers,” says frontman Mike Patton in the above fan-filmed video, surveying the crowd next to an ominously silent “gimp.” Moments later, the schizoid alt-metal icons kick off their performance with “Motherfucker,” the first single from their upcoming seventh LP – which was released as a limited-edition Black Friday seven-inch. The video also includes energetic takes on old-school cuts “As the Worm Turns” and “Spirit.”
The second clip, available below, finds the band performing sludgy fan favorite “Ashes to Ashes,” but not before Patton threatens to “sic the gimp on [the] ass” of a heckler. Between songs, the singer pauses to ask the record-buying crowd about their vinyl purchases. (He approves of Patsy Cline.) The band ends with another new track, the eerie “Superhero.”
In September, Faith No More announced plans to release their long-awaited comeback album – their first since 1997’s Album of the Year – in April 2015. The LP will be produced by bassist Bill Gould, recorded at the group’s Oakland rehearsal space and released on their own Reclamation Records.
“The [label] name has to do with the fact that we realized we were free from our recording obligations,” Gould told Rolling Stone. “We weren’t touring, we have these songs that we were working on — that we think are pretty cool — and why don’t we just do our own imprint and kind of reclaim our future, in a way? We own the future more than we ever have.”
The band has yet to announce details of a tour, though they’re planning a full American trek around the album’s release.
