FAITH NO MORE ARE SMART TO KEEP AVOIDING THE U.S.

If Faith No More were like most bands, they’d have toured the U.S. multiple times since reuniting in 2009. But Faith No More are not like most bands. Faith No More are smart.

Faith No More have avoided the U.S. almost entirely since reuniting three years ago, playing a measly six shows on their home turf. Meanwhile they played the whole slate of summer festivals in Europe in 2009 and are about to do again this year (dates below). What the fuck?

What might seem like spiteful teasing on FNM’s behalf to you seems like smart business to me.

In Europe, Faith No More can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per show headlining gigantic open air festivals without decreasing their value at all. How they achieved this status through a decade of dormancy really isn’t clear to me, but they certainly deserve it.

So though it might seem crazy, FNM just aren’t as big in the U.S. as they are abroad. The two Brooklyn shows they headlined in 2010 were huge (not Download Festival huge, but still pretty big), but only because of the massive reunion hype. If they were to have followed their 2010 shows with a full U.S. tour they’d have been lucky to sell out large theaters (2,000-4,000 cap), and if they were to do so again in the following months or year they’d have been lucky to sell out small theaters with the novelty of the reunion having worn off. Instead, Faith No More are staying out of the U.S. entirely to make sure that when they do finally come back their value will be high, people will be extremely excited, and it will be an EVENT.

Most bands are content to ride the reunion wave and sink their show value into the ground. By staying out of their home market, Faith No More are making sure they can pay their bills playing just a handful of shows per year well into the future. And they’re keeping their credibility high at the same time by making themselves seem elusive. Smart.

Here are those European festival dates, by the way, for those of you lucky enough to be able to go:

06/28 Sopron, HUN – Volt Festival
06/29 Belgrade, SER – Belgrade Calling
06/30 Perm, RUS – TBA
07/02 Moscow, RUS – Stadium Live
07/04 Poznan, POL – Malta Festival
07/05 Hradec Kralove, CZE – Rock For People Festival
07/07 Amneville, FRA – Sonisphere Festival
07/08 London, UK – Hammersmith Apollo
07/10 London, UK – Brixton Academy

-VN