Concert Review: Failure, Live at the Varsity Theatre. May 21st, 2014

Back when I was a husky, awkward 15 year old high school sophomore, listening to Magnified on my Walkman on the bus ride to school—never in a million years did I think that one day, I would be a beautifully thin and bearded (and still awkward) adult, standing in a crowd, watching Failure perform live.

But here I was, at the Varsity Theatre in Minneapolis, witnessing the triumphant return of Failure, one of my favorite bands of all time, and an act responsible for one of my favorite records ever—their swan song, 1996s Fantastic Planet.

Touring now as a three-piece consisting of the Fantastic Planet-era line up, including Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards, both switching off between bass and guitar duties throughout the night, and intense, powerful drumming from Kellii Scott, the band was able to adapt their multi-layered sound to accommodate the lack of an additional guitarist, and powered through a roughly twenty song set that included a bulk of material from Fantastic Planet, favorites from Magnified, and one track from their 1992 debut, Comfort.

Aside from the fact that after sixteen years, a Failure reunion and subsequent tour was REALLY HAPPENING, one of the most exciting and appealing aspects of this show (for me) was the lack of an opening act. I mean, how many of us have ever truly enjoyed the supporting band’s set? I can think of, like, three or four times off the top of my head where I was blown away by the band I didn’t pay money and leave the comfort of my own home to see. In most cases, you find yourself standing disinterested, clapping when appropriate, and looking at your watch, hoping that the half hour goes quickly.

Instead of an opening act, the band assembled a 15-minute video compilation of scenes from movies that inspired their music—specifically Fantastic Planet, including scenes from 2001, Solaris (the Russian original), The Mirror, The Spy Who Loved Me, Fantastic Planet, and even a clip from the “Space Madness” episode of “Ren and Stimpy.”

Hitting the stage around 8:15, as the projection screen began to rise, Edwards began to launch into the opening guitar strains of “Another Space Song,” as Scott confidently filed in with his ridiculously hard-hitting percussion, then finally, Andrews on the fuzzed out, distorted bass lines—all three of them working together to create a surreal moment as Andrews delivered the opening lyric, “The solar panel’s shining face, is smiling back on me. Twisting off into the sun, it’s okay to be lonely…”

Dividing the night into two sets, split up with an intermission, and an encore, each set was balanced between Magnified and Fantastic Planet material, saving the “hits” for key moments in each—including closing the first ten song portion with “The Nurse Who Loved Me,” and ending the second set with the double shot of their best known song, “Stuck On You,” following it with the noisy, aggressive “Heliotropic.”

Considering the fact that Failure only announced their reunion plans at the tail end of 2013, and the fact that they had been broken up for, like fifteen years—they sound incredible, like the 90s never ended, really, which can be a testament to both how good of musicians Edwards, Andrews, and Scott are, as well proof of how diligently the band has been prepping for this tour.

They were also loud as hell, and the dull ringing in my ears this morning makes me wish I had maybe used the earplugs I brought to the show, but was too cool to actually put in.

The Failure reunion show was enough to get me out of my “no new concerts” policy that I’ve had since last fall—due to my crippling anxiety about leaving the house, driving to the Twin Cities, standing in crowds, being out late, etc—I’m really just not going to shows now, save for a small list of artists that I will break this policy for. I also wasn’t really sure what to expect from the crowd. You’d like to think that other fans of a band you like are similar to yourself—they’ll stand respectfully, clap at the end of a song, maybe nod their head in time with the music on occasion, not talk to their friends the whole time, et. al. I also wasn’t sure what kind of draw Failure would have in Minneapolis in the year 2014.

The answer to that question is that they had a big draw. The Varsity Theatre holds 962 people, making it one of the mid-sized venues in the area. It’s not as “iconic” (or overrated) as First Avenue, and it was also renovated within the last three to four years, so it’s actually nice inside, and not a gigantic shithole. The show was not sold out, but I would venture it was close. And while most people were pretty cool about personal space, you always have the assholes at every concert. The assholes that scurry up to the front after the band has started, thinking they are hot shit for showing up late, and rushing the stage. The assholes that need to continually leave their spot to go get another overpriced tallboy of beer. Or in this case, the assholes that feel like they need to start a mosh pit at in opportune times, thrashing around into strangers, spilling drinks, and getting beer in my precious, gorgeous beard.

Aside from that straight up vibe killer, there were moments when I caught myself in awe of what I was witnessing. A band that I’ve been listening to for over half my life, right there in front of me, playing these songs that I’ve carried with me through time.