Chances are, if you remember Failure from their heyday in the mid ’90s, you’re probably much older than I am. In fact I only recently found out about the band, who recently reunited this year–putting out a new song–and are currently in the midst of their first tour in 16 years. While this probably makes me highly unqualified in the eyes of any long-time fan of the band, I will endeavor to do my best to do their live performance justice in the review that follows.
Failure rolled into town on June 8th to play a sold out show at Exit/In. By the time doors opened the line was stretched down the block and wrapped around the corner, continuing down that street. I’ve never seen the venue this full–it was hard to even move around! The crowd was a mix of older folks and younger twenty-somethings, with us youngsters greatly outnumbered by our elders. In lieu of an opening act, Failure are instead showing a short video at the start of their set. This was a neat way to start the night–the video featured clips from various movies and television shows that have inspired the band over the years. It included clips of everything from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1974), to part of an episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show.
The final scene of this video transitioned into the track “Another Space Song” as Failure took the stage. Fans this night were treated to a total of 19 songs over the course of 2 sets and a three-song encore that featured such favorite tracks as “Wet Gravity,” “Saturday Savior,” “Undone,” “Stuck on You,” “Smoking Umbrellas,” “The Nurse Who Loved Me,” and many more.
The band put on a tight live show that had everyone in the audience dancing and singing along and kept their attention through the entirety of their lengthy 2-part set. Although it was lost on me personally, I could feel the nostalgia of many in the audience just looking around. If you haven’t caught a date of this tour yet, all is not lost, the remaining dates of their tour listed below:
6.11 Houston, TX House of Blues
6.13 Phoenix, AZ The Marquee Theatre
6.14 Pomona, CA The Glasshouse
6.15 San Diego, CA House of Blues
6.17 Los Angeles, CA The Mayan
6.18 Los Angeles, CA The Mayan
