Faith No More could be returning to the stage in 2027. On Tuesday, June 16, the California alternative metal band posted a teaser across their social media accounts featuring their classic eight-pointed star logo and the year “2027” layered over a photo of a concert audience.
The cryptic post aligns with a new report from Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, who notes that the live entertainment promoter 30e has secured a worldwide touring agreement with Faith No More. The Brazilian company established a similar global partnership with System Of A Down earlier this year.
If a reunion tour materializes, it would mark a sharp reversal from the band’s recent stance on performing.
Last year, keyboardist and co-founder Roddy Bottum firmly dismissed the idea of future live shows during an interview with Greg Prato of Alternative Nation.
When asked if the group would play together again, Bottum gave a direct answer:
“I don’t think so. No.”
When pressed for a reason, Bottum explained the sentiment is shared among his bandmates following a string of canceled comeback shows in 2021.
“It’s not just me. I don’t think anyone’s sort of up for it at this point,” he said. “We had a bunch of shows that we were gonna play, and they got canceled, just for various reasons. But I don’t think the course that we were on has fixed itself. I just don’t see it happening again, honestly.”
Bottum elaborated that the band feels they have already accomplished what they needed to with their previous reunion, which began in 2009.
“I think we did a really good job. We played a bunch of reunion tours, and I think we did what we kind of set out to do. So I don’t think anyone’s upset about it or anything,” he explained.
“But I mean, for sure, getting back together would mean a big paycheck, but I think all of us are pretty good with what we did, sort of just, like, artistically with the band and committing to ourselves and playing with each other. I think we’re all pretty good with the decisions that we’ve made up to now, and I don’t see what could really happen more getting back together and doing more shows.”
Faith No More has not played a concert since 2016. After originally disbanding following the release of 1997’s Album of the Year, the group reunited in 2009. They eventually recorded their first studio album in 18 years, 2015’s Sol Invictus. The band was scheduled to tour in 2021, but those dates were scrapped when frontman Mike Patton canceled his live commitments to focus on his mental health, which had worsened during the pandemic.
Bottum also reflected on the initial 2009 reunion and how the experience helped him overcome a recurring personal anxiety.
“When we did the first reunion tour, we had broken up for like… almost 15 years. And it was kind of, like, I used to have dreams when I was younger — I get to school and, ‘Oh my God, I forgot to study for the test.’ And then the test is right then, and I’m, like, ‘Oh my God, I’m gonna fail.’ At some point after Faith No More broke up, I kept having these dreams that I would show up, ‘Oh my God. Faith No More was doing a reunion tour, and I forgot to learn the songs.’ It became this thing that sort of replaced that dream scenario for me. So, I kept having these dreams,” he said at the time.
He continued: That was a nightmare I kept having. And then we structured a whole tour and learned the songs and played the songs and did the tour, and it’s, like, I was able to address that nightmare in a real, actual physical sense. And I think it was key in moving forward in my life in some weird way. Plus, it was just really fun. Billy [Gould, Faith No More bassist] and I have been friends since we were, like — I don’t know — nine or 10 years old. So, it was fun to sort of tap back into that friendship and just hang out.”
Speaking recently with Kyle Meredith, Mike Patton was asked if there was a feeling of “closure” during the band’s last major touring cycle a decade ago. Patton admitted that while it wasn’t explicitly discussed, the vibe was present.
“I didn’t really think so at the time, but, yeah, maybe. And I think that we all kind of felt it, but it was unspoken. And it’s funny: when you’ve been in a band or a musical situation for a period of time, you always, in the back of your head, you’re kind of thinking, ‘Well, maybe this is it.’ And I don’t mind that feeling. I don’t see it as a sad thing. I see it as being present and being able to really appreciate it while it’s happening.”
Patton also took the opportunity to dismantle the public perception of his career “hierarchy,” rejecting the idea that his work outside of Faith No More should be classified as “side projects.”
“I’d never really understood, and I had to figure this out very early on, was the concept of a side project, that’s assuming that there’s a main one. And for me, I really never had one. There were projects like Faith No More where I spent more time on, in terms of touring and promoting, quote-unquote, if you will, but everything that I’ve done was of equal importance to me. They just weren’t viewed that way. And the public, for whatever reason, needs to have a hierarchy kind of built in there just to make themselves feel better about it, I guess. I don’t know.”
