Photo credit to Raymond Flotat
Bands fight, break up, reunite and break up again all the time. Sometimes they even have a fake break up (looking at you, Foo Fighters). However, the reunion of the rock band Failure was pretty special.
The group reached the height of their popularity and released three stellar albums in the 1990s. Unfortunately, they split up in 1997 and went their separate ways. While each member has since participated in a variety of new projects and maintained a solid presence in the music industry, it was still a pleasant shock when the group announced that they would be reuniting for a single show in Los Angeles. The group took the stage at the El Rey Theatre in February 2014 for their first show in 16 years, and played a flawless 90-minute set to an ecstatic crowd that sealed the deal for a true comeback.
Failure has made a valiant return since the reunion show over two years ago, including more shows and a brand new album. However, they now have surprise for the fans that captures the magic of that night forever. The band posted on Facebook that their full reunion show is now posted on YouTube. “This is what started it all… again,” the band wrote. “We’ve been sitting with this for a while, trying to decide when would be the right time to share it with all of you. We guess that time is right now.” The video was edited by Dave Boccuzzi and contains the entire 90-minute performance, featuring pro-shot footage provided by the band, along with audience-shot videos which were already featured in a similar edit.
The reunion show was a particularly emotional experience, as Failure chose to forgo an opening act in favor of showing a cut-up montage of some their favorite cinematic moments. The chosen moments reflected on the band’s career in a meaningful way, featuring artful and philosophic musings as well as comedic relief. They ranged from works by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky to clips from the animated television show Ren & Stimpy.
Failure’s first show after 16 years launched them into a powerful comeback that every band on hiatus would kill for. It is no secret that they are an inspiration to everybody around them. Just last year, Mxdwn wrote about the band’s profound influence, including multiple testimonials from other artists. Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle says of the band,”Failure has an uncanny ability to straddle the line between esoteric sonic artistry and velvet, sweet ear candy,” while Bill Gould of Faith No More calls their music “Thick and cascading while remaining very musical.” They are iconic musicians that we can all expect to see around for quite some time.
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