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Columbus, OH |
| I walked in late due to some unforseen problems and can't say I was sorry
I missed part of the opening band. It was "Limp Bizkit," playing
that rap/metal sound that I seem to hear a lot of these days. From what
I could tell, the titles of their songs were all "F***," "F***
You Dumb F***" and "Asshole." Those were the only words I
could make out. the one bright spot to their set was a cover of "Faith"
by George Micheal. It was the only singing I can remember hearing from this
band. It was a lot harder than the original and a ton of fun to listen to. Of course, they went right back to their obscenity songs after that. Don't get me wrong, I have no trouble with people singing whatever they want, but some lyrical originality was in order here. There was a song played late in the set called "Freakin' Me Out" that was just terrific. There was a little more musicality to it and a little less screaming of nonsense. I'd say this band was fair, but nothing to spend your lunch money on. |
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| "Faith No More" came out onto the stage wearing suits. I must
admit to being a bit surprised. Having not actually seen the band since
"Epic," this was a much different image than I was used to.They
opened with "Cup Of Sorrow," a fantastic song off of their new
album that's getting a lot of airplay here. Then the assholes started in.
Whenever I go to the Newport, someone thinks it's a real kick to throw stuff
at the band. It was even more prevalent at this concert. First someone threw
a pitcher of beer onstage. Mike Patton, the lead singer picked it up, drank
what was in the bottom and thanked the guy. So far so good. Later on someone
threw another pitcher and beaned the drummer with it, someone else threw
a cigarette at the guitarist, someone tried to set a friends hair on fire
in the audience...it was insane. I can't believe they just took it in stride.
It couldn't have been easy. If the Newport didn't have the majority of cool
bands in this city, I'd avoid the place altogether. Getting back to the music, they did an amazing rendition of "Easy" by the "Commodores." It was slow and soulful, like the original, but I liked it even better. From there they went right into a very hard, fast song by the name of "Introduce Yourself." This is a song done by the band before Patton became a part of it and the real fans in the audience ate it up. This was to set the stage for the rest of the night. A slow song or two to set us at ease, then a fast, rough one or three to get us on our feet dancing. The mix was very cool and made it easy to catch our breath, probably theirs too. I didn't reallize how out of touch I had become with this band until I went to this concert. Most of the songs I didn't know, some I couldn't even figure out. You will probably hear me complain a lot about the sound system there. It's nearly impoosible to understand anything being said or sung. Soon they sang "Deep Purple's"- "Highway Star" and Patton was all over the stage. He's a real bundle of energy. They did this song four times during the concert. Once twice in a row. It got to be a joke by the end, but I was loving it. They did it in such a fast, thrash mode, that it took all of a minute or two to sing. Lots of fun. A while later "Ashes To Ashes" was another crowd pleaser. This is also off their latest album, and really great to listen and move to. Then we went into a musical interlude with lots of echo and keyboard. It was breathtaking. This led into another slow, strong tune called, I believe, "I Wanna Be With You." I was made much more aware of Mike Patton's range and was simply stunned. When he sings, he sings beautifully, when he screams lyrics, it's just a good time. Next was the biggest hit of the night. The kicked into "Epic" and everyone started to get crazy. I was singing, everyone else was singing, a great time was had by all. He led out of the song with "I believe I can fly" courtesy of Hendrix, putting a different spin on things. A few more songs I couldn't even begin to guess were on, all good, if not particularly memorable. Then music starts up as if they're going into another song, but Patton starts shrieking and lowers himself behind the speakers as his hand appears to attack him. A nice touch. They thank the audience and leave the stage. For an encore, they did a song I could only guess the title of it to be "Eye to Eye," but I couldn't find any listing of a song by that title on any of their albums. And finally, a slower song song to wind down the night with "Ride To Fall." But the audience wasn't satisfied and they begged for more. They came out again saying something about how Columbus doesn't like ballads and rocked the house to a close. This was a totally incredible concert, if you ignore the problems associated with the venue. If I could have heard everything, if there hadn't been so many people throwing things, and if the lighting was a little better, it might have been close to the best concert I've attended. I don't necessarily recommend seeing them here, but I do urge you to check them out in your town. If you love it half as much as I did, you'll have a great time. |
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