Faith No More Rock New York City With Support From Refused

Faith No More are back and played to a packed house at the Theater at Madison Square Garden last week. Originally the show was supposed to take place at main arena that is MSG but Faith No More members made light of the situation. “Are you mad we’re not playing the bigger place?” said keyboardist Roddy Bottum. The full house they played to inside the smaller theater was far from upset.

The band kicked off the set with “The Real Thing” and “Be Aggressive,” and also played a series of notable tracks -- “Epic,” “Caffeine” and “Midlife Crisis” -- consecutively to the crowd's surprise and delight. With a stage laced with flowers, Faith No More aren’t quite the band some may remember in the ‘90s. Frontman Mike Patton isn’t running around wearing his leopard-print hat from the 1990 MTV Music Awards but his voice is still incredible and he remains energetic onstage.

Faith No More have never been a band to be conventional or easily defined and that still holds true. Their encore included “Motherf---er” off of their new album Sol Invictus, as well as “RV” and “Just a Man.” Whether Faith No More are playing Madison Square Garden, the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Webster Hall or the parking lot of a McDonald’s, fans will show up and they will not be disappointed.

Swedish punk band Refused opened the show with an enthusiastic performance, performing fan favorites “Elektra,” “The Shape of Punk to Come” and “Rather Be Dead.” They also cranked out “Dawkins Christ,” “366,” “Servants of Death” and "Thought Is Blood” off of their brand new album Freedom. Refused also played another, more intimate midnight show at the Studio at Webster Hall. New Yorkers are no strangers to Refused, as they've played a number of memorable gigs in the city since reuniting a few years ago.

Check out photos of Faith No More and Refused in New York City in our gallery above!