Photos and words by Debi Del Grande
Special fog, “new shit,” birthday cake for Ken Andrews whether he liked it or not, and a continuation of gratitude to Maynard James Keenan for reuniting one the best 90s alternative rock bands that never got a chance to take off and whose music is much needed in today’s buffet of bleh.
When Failure returned after 16 years to play the El Rey back in February, we only knew they would join Keenan’s bands A Perfect Circle and Puscifer at The Greek Theatre for a couple of shows. What we didn’t expect was that Andrews, multi-instrumental extraordinaire Greg Edwards and pounding machine Kellii Scott would wrap up their North American tour back in their hometown at the Fonda. We received two savory sets and a lengthy encore. Shouts of song requests like “Bernie” and “Solaris” started immediately. The crowd did their best as Andrews pointed for “with all the other guys” during “The Nurse Who Loved Me.” We could lose our minds on “Pillowhead” and “Frogs.”
Failure will play the Riot Fests and hopefully more in their hometown. There will always be a welcoming crowd.

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Setlist:
First Set:
Another Space Song
Frogs
Wet Gravity
Saturday Saviour
Sergeant Politeness
Segue 2
Dirty Blue Balloons
Undone
Pillowhead
Segue 3
The Nurse Who Loved Me
Second Set:
Blank
Solaris
Small Crimes
Smoking Umbrellas
Stuck on You
Heliotropic
Encore:
The Focus
Bernie
Magnified
Screen Man
Daylight