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But that\u2019s not unusual for Failure, who consistently deliver quite possibly the best live shows on the planet.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 I\u2019m not even going to qualify that with something writerly and clever.\u00a0 Failure is, for all intents and purposes, untouchable at this point in their storied history, so much so that the band eschewed the usual opener for a thirty minute segment of the soon-to-be-released documentary about the band\u2019s rise, fall, and rise again in 2014.\u00a0 As numerous musical dignitaries suggest in those clips, what makes Failure so special\u2014and what was on full display for their blistering, ninety minute set on Friday\u2014is their uncompromising approach to what they do.<\/p>\n
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Opening with the one-two punch of \u201cSubmarines\u201d and the seething \u201cMercury Mouth\u201d from Droid<\/em>, the trio pulled it back to their first record before exploring deep cuts in their recent catalog, including the thrashy \u201cForce Fed Rainbow\u201d and \u201cDistorted Fields,\u201d surely one of the band\u2019s strongest, punchiest tracks (from 2019\u2019s In the Future Your Body Will Be the Furthest Thing From Your Mind<\/em>).\u00a0 Wild Type Droid<\/em>, as has been widely reported during the promotion for the record, was the product of an entirely new approach for the band, who took advantage of the Covid lockdown to produce nearly forty hours of improved jamming, riffing, and all-around experimentation, which was then culled to just a few hours worth of material that eventually became the new songs.\u00a0 You\u2019d never know it; every Failure record is an experience unto itself that also fits seamlessly into the band\u2019s discography; you\u2019d be hard pressed to find a stronger catalog that both maintains its own unique identity while pushing the boundaries of sound and keeping things endlessly interesting.\u00a0 Droid<\/em>\u2019s softer side\u2014the Andrews\u2019 penned \u201cBring Back the Sound\u201d and Edwards\u2019 \u201cHalf Moon,\u201d one of the most powerful moments on the record\u2014worked just as well live as they do on the album.\u00a0 Fragile melodies can be lost sometimes when so much of live rock performance is about bombast, but that was by no means the case here.<\/p>\n So, what was missing for most of the night?<\/p>\n Anything from Fantastic Planet<\/em>, the band\u2019s touchstone record.<\/p>\n It was quite the hat trick that had a few attendees scratching their heads, though they needn\u2019t have worried; it was just another example of how Failure does what they want, how they want, and it made for a setlist that felt like even more than the sum of its parts.\u00a0 Following a brief intermission, the band returned to play the back-third of Fantastic Planet<\/em> in order, from the explosive singalong choruses of \u201cThe Nurse Who Loved Me\u201d and \u201cStuck On You\u201d to the thunderous closing of \u201cDaylight.\u201d<\/p>\n There are millions of successful bands in the world, many of which are talented, and many of which are unique in their own way.\u00a0 There are millions more who will never know success in spite of massive talent, crushed to bits in the machinery of the music industry.\u00a0 There are very few who have a second chance after a brilliant but frustrating first act, only to return and rise to heights that perhaps even the band itself couldn\u2019t have seen coming.\u00a0 Failure are one of those bands.\u00a0 May they continue to keep us all in their orbit for years to come.<\/p>\n For more on Failure, click here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Failure-Bottom-Lounge-Chicago-July-2022-07-683x1024.jpg\")
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