Failure – Bring a Sense of Calm to Trees

Words and Photos by James Villa

Where to start, Failure.  Failure is one of those bands that I didn’t quite appreciate until way after I got older.  So many of my friends were really into them and me being young and guided by my own idea of great, never really took the time to listen to them.  Looking back, I missed so many opportunities.  Sunday night was really my first opportunity to catch them live, I’d been waiting for quite some time, so I was pretty excited to hear some of the songs that had grown on me over the years.  Trees was also the perfect environment due to its size and amazing acoustics.

The evening began with a 45-minute preview of their upcoming documentary.  Which went over well with the crowd, I’m not sure If they expected it or not, but definitely didn’t mind.  I for one really enjoyed listening to Hailey Williams of Paramore and Butch Vig of Garbage, among the other artists that contributed and spoke of how Failure had influenced and how their sound affected their musical career. To say that I was a bit upset that we didn’t get the watch the whole thing would be slightly disingenuous.  It was a great segue to what would follow.

The band went on at 9 sharp and from there it was one eargasm after another.  Ken Andrews’ magnetic vocals resonated throughout, and in my opinion, Greg Edwards has always added an extension of his influence with his melodic and unique guitar sound being a fan of his other work it was great to see him come full circle from his previous projects which I enjoyed as well and his return to the fold. Kellii Scott who joined the band in 2014 has created a tighter, more fluid sound. Listening to them and watching them putting their musical talents together seemed so cohesive.  

The setlist did not disappoint in the slightest some of my favorites included “Salt Wound”, “Frogs”, “Counterfeit Sky” and “Bring Back the Sound”, definitely not to be left were the fans I’ve seen plenty of shows at Trees and I can honestly say that the crowd did everything they could to stay connected and tuned in, no cellphones no distractions, it was a different kind of feeling. After a short intermission the man returned to the stage to finish what they started and finish they did, the encore consisted of fan favorites as well as Failure signature tracks like “The Nurse Who Loved Me”, and “Heliotropic” from their classic album “Fantastic Planet”.

It was definitely and evening I won’t forget.  Maybe next time I’ll leave the camera at home and enjoy the show.

Setlist

Submarines
Mercury Mouth
Salt Wound
Wonderful Life
Frogs
Atom City Queen
Counterfeit Sky
Distorted Fields
Force Fed Rainbow
Headstand
Bring Back The Sound
Bad Translation
Half Moon

Encore

Segue 3
The Nurse Who Loved Me
Another Space Song
Stuck On You
Heliotropic
Daylight