FAILURE played HOB/Anaheim Oct. 28 photo: Lauren Ratkowski
Alternative 90’s indie rock band Failure introduced the sultry side of rock to the House of Blues Anaheim on Oct. 28, bringing alongside support acts Local H and …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.
The show started off with a flash-happy stagehand in a room filled with strobe lights. Local H drew in the crowd with rock hard beats and a rad rendition of the always fun “Shock the Monkey.” Even with the show just coming to a start, it was obvious the members were ready to shake the crowd, and the crowd definitely followed along, rocking in unison. Local H finished on a high note (and more bright lights) and heard a roar from the building crowd chanting, “encore!”
Once the next band, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead came on, it was obvious that the eclectic crowd knew what they were in store for. The band perfectly blended mellow with a metal style of music that was performed by their silhouetted bodies on the stage. I’ve got to say, the lighting, although distracting at some times, definitely played a role into the drama of the performances.
They sent the fans into a flashback of UK 80’s punk, reminiscent of the Sex Pistols sound with some of the most impressive drumming I’ve seen to date! Their best song of the night was surely “Catatonic,” which reached out to the angst-ridden punk junkies.
At last the crowd was pumped and ready to hear the headliner, getting antsy during intermission. But, once the music started the crowd grew silent, with a three-panel backdrop flashing the word we didn’t think would ever be as exciting – “FAILURE”.
Failure began with a whisper of lyrics and the image of a music video production. The lights were the most impressive during this, giving focus to the backdrops behind the band that featured dystopian themes of fire and lightning contrasted with the beauty of galactic images.
The music is an incredible mark on the alternative rock genre, managing to sound sexy and sultry, yet evil and sinister with only guitar chord progressions.
“A.M. Amnesia” was an immediate fall-in-love-with-music sort of song. It’s chilling sound left the audience lusting for more as members Ken Andrews, Greg Edwards and Kellii Scott faded out with “The space comes in, the space goes out…”
This show was something that all fans, and newcomers alike could agree was definitely not a failure.