Finally back together after breaking up following their final release Album of the Year, Faith No More made a stunning return to large-scale U.S. audiences at Coachella. Opening with a cover of Peaches and Herb’s “Reunited,”  lead singer Mike Patton and keyboardist Roddy Bottom traded verses before bringing the whole crowd to join them on the tongue-in-cheek refrain, “Reunited / and it feels so good / Reunited / and its understood.”  The group wasted no time, delving right into The Real Thing-era track “From Out of Nowhere,” as Patton contorted with fiery abandon and howled, “You come from out of nowhere / My glance turns to a stare.” Jon Hudson’s guitar playing took hold on “Caffeine” as he nimbly jumped from the song’s thrashing cords to its pentatonic shifts, and bassist Billy Gould’s slap-heavy opening introduced the band’s earliest hit “We Care a Lot.” After the band finished the uplifting “Last Cup of Sorrow,” they then went on to a dead-on cover of Michael Jackson’s ode of friendship (to a rat), “Ben.” Patton cooed and crooned without satire through the song’s intricate melodic shifts. Heavier tracks “Surprise, You’re Dead!” and “The Gentle Art of Making Enemies” followed, the former jumping time signatures effortlessly and the latter ending with Patton’s ferocious scream, “I never felt / never felt this much alive.” And with little time left, Faith No More ended with perhaps four of their strongest tunes. The unmistakable opening rhythm from Mike Bordin set the tone for the thrilling “Midlife Crisis.” Their career-making “Epic” followed, which found its aggressive bridge of “It’s it / What is it?” transformed into a cathartic roar. They then finished with the eye-opening relief of “Ashes to Ashes” and their classic “Just a Man.”

We at mxdwn were fortunate enough to hear from Patton backstage at Coachella that they were at that point not scheduled to play any US dates because no offers had come in. Kudos to Goldenvoice for making this set happen, as their show was compelling proof of how artful hard rock can be when rendered by careful hands, that real rock-and-roll has a place at Coachella like any other genre. They were soulful and sweet when they wanted to be, open and engaging to the audience to help stir up their interest and razor-sharp focused when they needed to be. Faith No More absolutely owned their Coachella Stage performance, turning what seemed an adversarial crowd into an excited one. By the end of the set, the casual onlookers that seemed hesitant about the band’s unique brand of hard rock were fully won over. The full set list is below:

Reunited
From Out of Nowhere
Caffeine
We Care a Lot
Last Cup of Sorrow
Ben
Surprise You’re Dead
The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
Midlife Crisis w/Eastenders Theme
Epic
Ashes to Ashes
Just a Man