The Residents - 'Faceless Forever 50th Anniversary Show' Review - 4th February, Leeds Stylus

The Residents - 'Faceless Forever 50th Anniversary Show' Review at Leeds Stylus - Eyeball Quartet Produce Their Most Accessible Show Yet

The Residents are one of my favourite bands ever, and have been at the forefront of avant-garde music for over half a century now, producing a large number of brilliant albums, multimedia projects and live shows in their existence. While many hold a candle for their 70s and 80s output, understandably so, they have great projects wherever you look, from 1998's twisted retellings of bible stories with ''Wormwood', 2008's proto-ARG multimedia venture 'The Bunny Boy', or their recounts of historical train crashes on 'The Ghost of Hope'. The point is, The Residents have proven themselves to be not only great avant-garde artists, but also arguably the most consistent band in the musical underground as a whole. So it's natural that when the 50th anniversary rolled around there was gonna be some cool stuff in store, and there was. Not only is their first full length movie 'Triple Trouble' hitting home media in March, but they also released a comprehensive encyclopaedia, as well as embarking on a brand new tour: Faceless Forever. Now this tour has taken many different iterations. Initially it was supposed to be a tour for their great 2020 album 'Metal, Meat and Bone', but was called off due to a COVID surge and rebranded as the 'Dog Stab!' tour, featuring music from the aforementioned album, as well as reworkings of songs from their 1978 'Duck Stab!' album, and an encore of material from 'Third Reich N Roll', two of their best loved releases. Although after a small stint in September 2021, the rest of the tour was delayed. So now, on their European tour, we have its third iteration, featuring not only reworkings of 'Duck Stab!' material, but also new renditions of songs from throughout their vast catalogue. Also, as it happens, despite owning many a concert DVD of theirs, this would be my in-person introduction to their live experience, with them coming to Leeds for the first time ever. You can imagine my excitement.

Now in terms of the 'sound' of this tour, The Residents are pretty well known for evolving their sound depending the tour, so what would they do this time? Well, funnily enough, it seems as though in the last couple of years, The Residents have more or less settled into what I'll dub the "weirdo rock" format, i.e. the classic combination of guitar, keyboards, drums and vocals, but utilised in a distinctly Residents way. This of course is much to the chagrin of many Residents purists, who believe that particularly the guitarist's whammy and distortion heavy discordant noodling is becoming quite tiresome. The live show itself is also much less theatrical, simply consisting of an illusionary backdrop and standard multicoloured lights, with John Sanborn's psychedelic visuals projected over top. Personally though, I don't mind it too much. Sure it's not exactly reinventing the musical or visual wheel, but it gives the band the opportunity to present their songs in arguably the most digestible and accessible way to date, while still keeping their unmistakable weirdo essence at the forefront. After about an hour of some admittedly pretty cool instrumental tracks playing over the speakers, the group make their way on stage to rapturous applause, fully adorned in a snazzy, eyeball adorned suit, snood and top hat combo. They quickly launch into the first number, a cover of the Hank Williams song 'Jambalaya', but while sounding fairly cool and ethereal both on record and on the initial Cube-E tour, here, it sounds relatively subdued by comparison. Not bad by any means, but perhaps not the most impactful opener. However, the energy is quickly lifted by the back-to-back-to-back run of 'Hello Skinny', 'Cut To The Quick' and a medley of 'Laughing Song' and 'Bach is Dead.' While both the first and last of these tracks is characterised by a great, albeit dark sense of oddity, catchiness, charm and offbeat appeal similar to the other new 'Duck Stab! versions, 'Cut To The Quick', a great highlight from disc two of 'Metal Meat and Bone', is probably best described as an industrial, orchestral reggae track. Not only does it possess a slight horror element due to the sinister vocal performance and off kilter melodies, but also a groove and heft in the rhythms that works a treat. I would also like to add that while I wasn't a huge fan of the new-look 'Hello Skinny' on the live-in-the-studio album released in 2021, it really flourishes live.

Following this there is admittedly a slight lull in proceedings, with the new compositions for 'Boxes of Armageddon' and 'Would We Be Alive?" sounding pretty unremarkable all things considered, which is a real shame. After all, not only is the album version of the former a brilliantly ominous, esoteric, raging little ditty, but the live version of the latter the band performed on their 'Wonder of Weird' tour a decade prior was absolutely flooring in its sense of drama and intensity. Unfortunately though, little of these tracks' relative appeals seem to be present in their current iterations, and instead are just presented as a pair of relatively plain rock numbers. While I'll admit the next track 'Cold As A Corpse' doesn't exactly lift them out of this rut (I wasn't really a fan on record, neither am I here), the following triple bill of 'Smelly Tongues', 'Moisture' and 'Constantinople' absolutely does. All get the modern Rez-rock treatment, but each in their own distinct way: Smelly Tongues is a primal, guttural stomper backed by ominous horns, while 'Moisture' is a lot more otherworldly, having the vocalists hushed singing voice placed upon a backdrop of slow, eerie guitar runs and ghostly keys. 'Constantinople' of course is the obvious highlight, the first utterance of the refrain being greeted by whoops of recognition from the crowd. Whichever version you get, this track always thrills, from the dramatic shots of strings in the intro, to the almost metal style breakdown at the midpoint, to the brilliantly cacophonous, manic crescendo, atop which the vocalist gives one of his most unhinged performances. Put it simply, this track fucking rules. The new rendition of 'The Monkey Man' from 2005's 'Animal Lover' might be a little more polarising though. The instrumental is pretty cool. It somehow manages to be creepy, minimal and almost stately all in one, anchored by an great,  ominous piano line. What might be more divisive is the vocals, as the group made the aesthetic decision of having the vocalist sing the track with a very pronounced auto-tune effect, and given the high notes he has to hit, in conjunction with him not being traditionally the best singer, his performance sounds wobblier than a bowl of jelly. However, while this may quite easily deter some, I actually quite like it, and think it adds even more to the track's uncanny qualities.

Then, after a wonderfully jaunty and slightly campy version of 'Semolina' with its use of synth horns, while still maintaining its sense of tension, we arrive at 'Kill Him!', arguably the highlight of the whole evening. An adaptation of the Binding of Isaac story, it is easily the heaviest, dirtiest, gnarliest, most rocking track of the evening, with a suitably guttural vocal performance to accompany it, even to the point I could've sworn I heard the phlegm gathering in the back of the singer's throat. It was awesome, and further cements my belief that The Residents taking a full on stab at metal would be incredible. The new version of 'Blue Rosebuds' is arguably my favourite of the Duck Stab bunch, equal parts infectious, colourful, catchy and riotous, while also seeming to possess a sense of, weirdly enough, fun. That's not to say others haven't already, but it serves this track particularly well. What followed was admittedly unexpected, but still cool all the same, as the band saw fit to include two live-only Cube-E tour tracks in the set. However, while 'Theme From Buckaroo Blues' provides a really cool, cinematic opening, the very linear, repetitious structure of 'The Stampede' does get old after a while, despite the palpable drama of the story. Then, after a great, frantic, fast paced version of 'Lizard Lady' that had me headbanging in my chair from start to finish, the main set ends with a string of three tracks from the 'Metal Meat and Bone' album, those being 'Dead Weight', 'Hungry Hound' and 'Die! Die! Die!' The first and last are two absolutely cataclysmic barn burners, the first with a killer harmonica part, the second with yet another great, untamed vocal performance, with 'Hungry Hound' being a minimal, ghostly ballad sandwiched in between. Although, while the aforementioned track does quell the momentum slightly, it admittedly features some pretty impressive guitar soloing, so it's got that going for it. 

So, the main show itself it's fair to say was great, except hold on hippies and squirrels, that's not all, as following a short absence, The Residents return to the attendees' delight for a short encore, and it is fantastic. To say that the performance of 'Diskomo' was unexpected was an understatement, but of course, being a fan favourite, it went down a storm. Let me put it like this, I never thought I'd hear a rock redux version of a disco remix of an album of fake arctic tribal music, but now it exists I'm loving it. The group then finish with 'Nobody Laughs When They Leave', the closing track of their 1990 'Freak Show' album. Expectantly of course, it's a brilliantly rocking, dramatic twisted revision, with a particularly good, tense climax, and some musical carnival motifs sprinkled in quite tastefully as well. I also think that this was a particularly good choice for a closer, as the ending lyrics seem to be an inadvertently poignant comment on both The Residents' fanbase, and life in general in turn, with the singer declaring "everyone comes to the freak show to laugh at the freaks and the geeks. Life is a lot like a freak show, but nobody laughs when they leave." Spoken like a true outsider. It's on this note that the Residents conclude, taking a bow, exiting the stage to thunderous applause, and leaving me truly awestruck.

So I believe that while not perfect, The Residents have managed to craft a brilliant show that is both a perfect entry point for new fans (a viewpoint backed up by the enthusiastic testimonials of newcomers I talked to), as well as offering plenty to enjoy for long time fans. No, it's not as elaborate as 'Wormwood', or as musically nuanced and humorous as 'Talking Light', but what it is is a great rock show done in an unmistakably Resident-like manner.