Koda: Ahhhh, this tour is gonna f*cking kill us all! So stoked to be supporting a band as huge as Reported Failure and we'll be touring with Vile Hour again so soon after Warped, always a pleasure watching those two perform!

Nichole: More than excited to be touring with one of our favorite bands, and with Penetralia again, who we love. Two very cute sets of men.

Castor: Reel it in, Nichole.

Bill Owens: I've already purchased my ticket for one of the shows at Wembley! Fuck yeah!

Black Candy: I will be there at one of the dates! I will wear my CD cover of Rome T shirt!! ROCK ON!

Could Reported Failure be the fab four of the modern rock/alternative scene? The veteran quartet has been playing sod out show after sold out show on their “Rome World Tour”. On September 21 they came to Liverpool’s “The Cavern” where the Beatle’s famously got started. The Beatle’s are far from the hard rock that Reported Failure is famous for, but in recent years RF has become known for their versatility. After a standard set of some of RF’s biggest hits and fan favorites, the guys from Sacramento played an extra section to their set covering Beatles classics.

The show overall was the longest Reported Failure has played so far. Opening with energy and emotion with “Days Spent in the Dark” followed by “Lunar Utero”, the mood was set for rock and roll the Reported Failure way. They are in sync. Drummer Robert Edwards is sleek, quick, and consistent with the persona almost of a professional athlete who knows his team is a big deal. Bassist Matt Collins has impeccable timing as he slides from punk fuzz to smooth rock jams effortlessly. Guitarist Vin Peters has the hard rock haircut (or lack thereof) reminiscent of Robert Plant or Toni Lommi or Slash. He spends half his time running around stage and the other half elusively off in a corner or even behind the brick wall of the stage making everything from dynamic screaming leads to moody ambience by himself. Singer Billie Beckett lets his voice soar or crack and scream with unreal control as he thrashes around with his light blue Fender Jaguar jamming with the rest of the band at every moment.

With an extensive discography to work with, Reported Failure selects a mix of tracks from their new album like “Arctic Stars”, “When I Talk to God”, “Awakening”, and the epic “Land and Sea” as well as fan favorites from previous albums such as “A Pattern of Distress”, “Hope to Get Out”, “Testimony” and “Lay on Me.” The small cavern club is full of Reported Failure diehards. The energy mounts with every second.

In an epic change of pace, Billie Beckett plays his cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” The whole crowd sings with him. But the crowd couldn’t have predicted what happened next. Longtime fan and friend of Reported Failure and rock icon herself, Amy Meyer walks on stage. With a “Hey everybody” from Amy the crowd goes fucking insane. Billie stops playing while the crowd screams to give Amy a hug. The two friends play the rest of “Landslide” as a beautiful duet and what is sure to be a long remembered moment.

With Amy Meyer joining Reported Failure they played a selection from the album “Darkness” which Meyer was featured on including songs such as “6771”, “Neveah”, “Writing My own Eulogy” and “Lithium.” Since all of these songs feature Meyer, Reported Failure doesn’t play them live very often –with the exception of “6771” which has appeared in RF set lists quite often. Meyer adds another level of raw energy and charisma to Reported Failure’s already tight operation. Meyer’s persona is a little bit more punk rock than Reported Failure’s current persona that is much more classic hard rock. The jams and flow of the set is reminiscent of a Led Zeppelin show in the early seventies but with flavors of punk.

Meyer joined the boys for an emotional rendition of “Goodbye, My Son” and then left to a lasting ovation from the Liverpool crowd. At this point Reported Failure got down to business playing the hits. The intimate setting was too small for the mosh pit to form, but the entire crowd was in motion. Crowd surfers cruise in the tiny club getting close enough to touch the band. Hits like “Manufactured Radio”, “Disarm”, “Frosted Peaks”, and “Being Man” rock the club and form unforgettable moments. Billie Beckett uses he intimacy of the venue to really show off why he is one of the most iconic frontmen in recent memory. He harnesses passion for every syllable of every word of every phrase in a way that transcends any one genre and connects with every fan. Everyone in the club could tell that Reported Failure has been working hard to make a live show that people remember. As they jam out at the end of “Frosted Peaks” the crowd cant help but feel like at that moment there is nowhere on the planet better to be than the Cavern in Liverpool and Reported Failure is so smooth yet raw and unrelentingly loud; they probably know it too. Cocky bastards.

The set ends with the massive hit “Crumbling.” But that is just the first ending. Reported Failure has to play an encore. They just have to! Amid screaming fans Matt Collins walked back on to stage and turned on an amp and started playing a bassline. It was Repotted Failure’s new song “Take Arms against a Sea of Troubles.” This isn’t a punk band anymore. Reported Failure sounds like if some kind of superhuman Jeff Buckley and Kurt Cobain crossover was the lead singer in Black Sabbath. The band and the crowd goes nuts. Vin Peters is a guitar god worthy of having his face plastered throughout our pop culture and his riffs immortalized in our video games. He’s so fucking rock and roll he smashes his guitar on the brick wall continuing the guitar smashing tradition of Pete Townsend and Kurt Cobain. In a way, Reported Failure’s live show is an assimilation of rock and roll culture through time.

With Vin’s guitar in pieces and just a random tone and the crowd’s cheers ringing out, the show seems to be over. It’s been a long show already. But Reported Failure refuses to truly quit. They disappear for a minute or less. Maybe they’re cooling off. Maybe they’re doing lines of coke off of an amp. Maybe they’re praying to a statue of Jimi Hendrix whatever rock and roll shrine had allowed the show to be as good as it was. But after a minute the guitar riff to The Beatle’s “Revolution” rings out through The Cavern.

The crowd had been going nuts all night, but the feeling in The Cavern Club had reached a pinnacle of excitement. Vin Peters stormed onstage first now playing a vintage Gretsch Tennessean –the same guitar made famous by George Harrison. Robert Edwards comes onstage raising his drumsticks in the air like trophies, like he just won the Super Bowl before kicking in with the beat. Matt Collins brings in the bass as he struts onstage holding is bass like a weapon and improvising, showing off for the crowd. Finally Billie Beckett joins his bandmates. He as an aura of confidence about him. He plays his guitar and walks straight to the microphone to sing the song like he’s John Lennon. Reported Failure is heavier than The Beatles. They are more punk, more grunge. They grew up listening to The Foo Fighters and Modest Mouse, and The Cure and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their take on the Beatle’s is very nineties. The guitar tone is heavier and Beckett’s voice more ethereal and dark than Paul McCartney’s or John Lennon’s.

Revolution fades to another raging guitar intro. This one is from “Helter Smelter.” Reported Failure seems right at home covering one of The Beatles’ heavier tunes. Vin takes liberty to improvise the guitar licks as Billie takes liberty to scream out the lyrics. They approach the song like a young hardcore band ready to revolutionize the scene, except they’re an established rock band covering a decades old song. But for the crowd in Liverpool, its like Reported Failure is the next huge thing and “Helter Skelter” is soon going to dominate college radio. As the song ends Vin plays a soft guitar jam alone as the crowd cheers. Billie Beckett grabs an acoustic guitar. Vin plays with effects pedals settling on a psycadelic, non-overdriven sound. Billie strums the first chords to “Across the Universe.” It is a slow sing along. Lighters and phones go up in the crowd. Vin plays along in a subtle way. Billie’s voice, sounding hauntingly vulnerable, is the focus.

The song ends, but Reported Failure has more in store. “Once again, Amy Meyer,” says Billie once the crowd quiets down. They don’t stay quiet for long. Meyer walks on stage to perform a rendition of “Blackbird.” One can’t help but think that Billie Beckett and Amy Meyer could record an album together and that it would go down in history. The two of them blend perfectly. They know when to be powerful and when to be soft. Beckett lets Meyer take the lead for most of the song. Her voice fits the beautiful Paul McCartney tune. As the last quiet moment of the set, it is unforgettable.

Next came the big finish. Vin Peters started to play, to jam, to dabble with different sounds. Suddenly keys kick in from somewhere. Vin rages bending and sliding through the notes that make up the original orchestral intro to “I am the Walrus.” Robert Edwards hammers the drum in a rendition of Ringo Starr’s original beat. It is heavier and reminiscent strangely of the beat on Radiohead’s “The National Anthem.” Matt Collins lets the bass ring as he jams with Edwards perfectly. Billie Beckett is confident and wild. Peters takes all the orchestral parts on his guitar. Somehow he makes it work knowing exactly when to make his guitar scream, when to make it ring a soft atmosphere, and knowing when to hit the audience with a hard lick while maintaining the original intent of the melody. The result is a cover as elusive as the original, but with an alternative flair, mixing heavy guitar with the steady jam of bass and guitar. Beckett stays very true to Lennon’s original performance. Beckett’s songwriting, after all, is just as other-worldly as “I am the Walrus.” Having performed this cover before, Reported Failure has it together. It is perhaps the shape of things to come for a band who always tries to take their sound and by extension their fame to the next level. What is certain is that it was an incredible ending to the best show Reported Failure has ever played.

Full Set List
1. Days Spent in the Dark
2. Lunar Utero
3. Awakening
4. Lay on Me
5. When I Talk to God
6. Hope to Get Out
7. Arctic Stars
8. A Pattern of Distress
9. Testimony
10. Land and Sea
11. Landslide (with Amy Meyer)
12. 6771 (with Amy Meyer)
13. Lithium (with Amy Meyer)
14. Writing my own Eulogy (with Amy Meyer)
15. Neveah (with Amy Meyer)
16. Goodbye, My Son (with Amy Meyer)
17. My Name is William
18. Being Man
19. Manufactured Radio
20. I Know You
21. Disarm
22. Frosted Peaks
23. Crumbling

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24. Take Arms against a Sea of Troubles

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25. Revolution
26. Helter Skelter
27. Across the Universe
28. Blackbird (with Amy Meyer)
29. I am the Walrus

Edited by user 24 September 2014 07:13:08(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Matt: Man, we just do what we love to do. Thanks a lot. Come kick it at our hotel later.


[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uYQfL36E6Y[/YOUTUBE]

SOUNDS LIKE

Edited by user 15 October 2014 09:36:15(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified