Faith No More en concert à Lile (Audio / 1997)

One of the band's last gig.
And it's in Lille, or shall we say "Lyle" ?! A classic setlist for this tour, mixing old numbers with new ones. This version is a good to very good audience recording, the taper did a perfect job.

Band : Faith No More
Date : December 12, 1997
Venue : L'aĂŠronef, Lille, France

Band Info

• Wiki
• Pattontrader
• FNM
• Caca Volante

Setlist

01. Midnight Cowboy (John Barry)
02. This Town Is Not Big Enough For The Both Of Us (sparks)
03. Midlife Crisis
04. Naked In The Front Of The Computer
05. Ashes To Ashes
06. Stripsearch
07. I'm Easy
08. Introduce Yourself
09. The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies
10. Last Cup Of Sorrow
11. Land Of Sunshine
12. King For A Day
13. We Care A Lot
14. Get Out
15. Just A Man
16. Encore 1
17. This Guy Is In Love With You (Burt Bacharach)
18. As The Worm Turns
19. Encore 2
20. Band Jamming
21. Highway Star (Deep Purple)
22. Pristina

Version info

Source: Sony ECM-717 + Sony MZ-R30
Transfer: Sony MDS JE780 > optical cable > NJB3 > USB2 > 2 WAV files
Conversion : Soundforge 7.0a > 1 WAV File > CD WAVE Editor > Flac Frontend 1.7.1 > Flac (level 6)
Notes : MD flip during the first "encore" No music Lost
Trader's little helper used to check the files/ffp/md5 - soundforge only used to cut/paste the 2 wav files

Review

The set starts with a very laid back version of Midnight Cowboy. You can hear a few boys talking near the mic, but they arent that annoying.

As FNM goes into This Town Is Not Big Enough For The Both Of Us, the crowd remains very quiet, not a song FNM used to perform live. You can clearly hear the bass, keyboard and drums, but the guitar is slightly distant. Then it's Midlife Crisis : still a quiet audience... The recording is well balanced, and Mike's voice is clear and upfront in the mix.

Then it's a number from Album Of The Year, and it gets a good response. But not as good as the next song : Ashes to Ashes. A fantastic song, that got aired on French radios a the time, and that comes out really powerfull played live, with Mike's vocals stealing the show. The taper must have moved a little bit during the song, because in the middle of it the sounds becomes slightly better.

One last number from AOTY, then we go back to some more famous songs : Easy, who gets no particular treatment this time, then a fast and furious Introduce Yourself, at the end of which Mike (and probably Roddy ?) have a little exchange with the crowd about how to pronounce "Lille". Just before Land Of Sunshine, Mike and Roddy tell the crowed they've been working hard for the past 6 months just for them !

Land Of Sunshine : Mike's voice doesnt sound as efficient as usual, he doesnt scream his head off. Still, he sings the guitar solo instead of John Hudson. VoilĂ  Lille !
King For A Day gets a trippy treat with Mike throwing in some strange noises. The band plays a couple more famous numbers until the first encore, with an unsual song played live : This Guy Is In Love With You. A soft song during which you can hear a few people talking around the taper, but nothing anoying. You can still enjoy Mike's powerful voice.

Then comes As The Worm Turns : I wont be fair because it's my favorite FNM song (ever), and it bloody kicks ass here.
Then the crowd starts this fucking stupid French thing "woa hohoho ho, woa hohoho ho,.." and the band starts jaming to it, taking the piece of "Lille", before going into a hectic Highway Star. They finish the show with Pritina who fits in perfectly.

Overall, a solid performance by the band, just a few months before definitely splitting up. A short show (under 1h20min), but then again, all FNM arent that long.
A good AUD recording, I'd rate this A-/A.

Samples

• Midlife Crisis
• As The Worm Turns