On April 28th 1990 Faith No More performed at The Brixton Academy in London UK during their mammoth tour in support of The Real Thing. This show was professionally filmed and released on VHS, CD, vinyl and cassette as You Fat Bastards in 1991.
Over thirty years later and the future of this iconic venue is in doubt in the wake of a deadly crowd crush that killed two people, as Met police urge the local council to revoke it's licence. A petition has been started to save Brixton Academy from closure. You can sign HERE.
The famous FNM show is to date the only official full live release from the band and still holds some nostalgic and legendary moments - Mike Patton's police helmet and 'real' fart into the microphone!
Brixton is a district of South London and place of significance in British history. It has seen much unrest over the years with several riots, in 1979 The Clash told us 'You can crush us. You can bruise us. But you'd have to answer to... the guns of Brixton', it is the birthplace of David Bowie, and it is the spiritual home of Faith No More.
"We’ve made fucked-up decisions our whole career. I think that’s why the English embraced us. It feels to me that the English love to champion fucked-up Americans." - Roddy 2015
In 1988 FNM first toured outside of the US with frontman Chuck Mosley, their song We Care A Lot had become an underground hit on UK college radio, therefore they headed for London to expose their unique brand of hippy rock. The first venue the band played of their fourteen show tour was at Dingwalls in Camden on January 22nd. FNM were received with such praise that they returned to the UK four months later.
This was the beginning of a mutual bond which has lasted their entire career. In 1989 FNM again graced the shores of England and Scotland for fourteen dates across the two countries, however it wasn't until 1990 that the UK was truly encapsulated with the band's music. This was possibly FNM's most hectic tour schedule and they were in the UK for dates in January, February and again in April due to the unexpected success of The Real Thing.
The Epic tour consisted of thirteen dates in Ireland, Scotland and England including a hysterical performance on Top of the Pops during which Patton refused to mime the lyrics to From Out Of Nowhere. The band played Hammersmith Odeon on April 27th and Brixton Academy on April 28th.
"Brixton was an afterthought in lots of ways," Faith No More's booking agent at the time Derek Kemp explains. "We had sold out the Astoria on the previous tour, so the next logical step was to play Hammersmith Odeon. I put the Odeon on sale, and it sold very quickly. I tried to get a second night there, couldn’t get the dates, so found out Brixton Academy was available, so put the band into there. At that time, the capacity for Hammersmith Odeon, because it was all seated then, was about 3,500, maybe just a little bit less, and the capacity of Brixton Academy was around about 5,000. In two nights, the band played to over 8,000 people in London alone." - Small Victories : The True Story of Faith No More | Adrian Harte
RIP Magazine reviewed the show:
Whether or not you appreciate the vinyl, there's no denying Faith No More are one of the most compelling bands to hit the live circuit recently. Their ingenious hybrid of rock, rap, funk and the odd classical break is transformed into something magical on stage, while the crazy showmanship of singer Mike Patton — as unpredictable a character as former vocalist Chuck Mosley — makes the show visually as well as aurally exciting. Brixton was packed and heaving, but its all starting to look a little bit too easy. The 10-legged music monsters songs — including hits 'We Care A Lot', 'Epic' and 'From Out Of Nowhere' — are so strong that the band scarcely had to try and there was the sense of a mere run through. It was only the more offbeat moments — snatches of 'Pump Up The Jam' and 'Street Tuff', the reflective cabaret of 'Edge Of The World', and the stonking encore of Black Sabbath's 'War Pigs' — that they really lit up. Faith No More need a break from touring before they become victims of their own success. Especially as, even on half power, they still blow the rest out of the water.
FNM would return to Brixton in 1992 for three shows. In 1997 the band were joined by Sparks at the venue. FNM's first show after their eleven year hiatus was also in Brixton, with another final appearance in 2012. If the band's most recent tour had gone ahead FNM would have added two more performances at the London venue to their score.