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| Michael O'Neill, JD Samson and Roddy Bottum performing as Crickets at Baby's All Right in Brooklyn, NY in January 2020 |
Faith No More was a band I loved dearly in high school, but I had lost touch with them post-Angel Dust. This is what happens when you're a fickle teen pre-social media and your favorite groups suddenly aren't getting the mainstream coverage they used to from also-fickle media outlets. My love for them was reignited by a random YouTube suggestion one day last year for their video "Everything's Ruined." For whatever reason, probably nostalgic, I let myself immediately dive into a Faith No More YouTube rabbit hole that night.
I watched all of their music videos that I didn't know existed; by the time their followup to 1992's Angel Dust came out in 1995, I was knee deep in Bad Boy remixes. That night turned into days, which turned into weeks, and ended up in a full on vortex that I called "The Summer of Faith No More." I was in a mental place where I clearly wanted something refreshing that differed from the rest of my usual go-to music. I had kept a selection of FNM's songs in my ipod that I listened to on occasion. But suddenly I found myself compelled to devour everything they'd ever done. Records that were over 20 years old were brand new to me.
Watching all the videos and bunches of live shows induced a sense of huge regret and loss when I saw all the awesome things I had missed. As if bailing on them as an ignorant teenager wasn't enough, I made the terrible mistake of letting various reasons get in the way of me going to see their 2010 and 2015 shows. But after falling back in love with my old flames, I vowed to support the members of that band wholeheartedly from now on.
I quickly tracked everyone in the band down on social media that I could to see what was going on with them in current times. Up until now, I was aware of various Mike Patton projects that had occurred over time (there were many!), but as stated before, I wasn't entirely awoken from my FNM slumber fully until recently. So when I found out Roddy was actively playing shows with Crickets, I committed to checking them out as soon as I could. I wanted to see Roddy basically do anything at all, because I just enjoy him as a performer. But the fact I ended up genuinely liking his new band's music was a happy bonus.
By the time I saw them play Baby's All Right again in January, I felt like I was there not just to support a favorite musician because of his work with someone else, but to support this new venture too. Every time I go see them, it's like a refreshing tonic. Danceable, positive music that has introduced me to new venues I hadn't been to yet, along with a whole scene of performers new to me as well. It's safe to say I am looking forward to my next Crickets show!
Click here to check out Crickets music. Scroll down to see photos from the show.
