What’s better than seeing the band Failure once this year? Seeing them twice and on October 30, 2026 I did just that at The Belasco in LA. Let’s take a look….
It’s not often that I see very many shows at The Belasco but anytime I do it’s always been great being situated at the very tip of downtown LA is a really cool venue. I think one of the big reasons why I like this venue so much is because it sounds good no matter where you are standing, it’s fairly easy to get to, and parking is reasonable (if you’ve ever been to LA you definitely know what I mean). That said, time for the main event…..
Failure are absolutely one of those bands that sound great where ever you see them. Still touring behind their latest album Location Lost (which came out in April 2026], they kicked the set off with “Crash Test Delayed” which I must say, is a great song to open with. It’s just such a perfect blend of atmospheric-ness and hard rock. Follow that with “Saturday Saviour” and “Sergeant Politeness” off of Fantastic Planet and you have a great three punch knockout. Of course when they went into the songs “Princess” and “Macaque” off of Comfort, I was very pleasantly surprised. Right after “Princess,” Ken Andrews said “that’s some 1991 punk for you if you don’t mind, we’ll stay here is that ok?” Which of course made the audience erupt in cheers and applause.
From then on, it was nothing but great song after great song. I do like that they kept a nice balance of their more mid tempo songs with their more energetic/punkier kind of songs. More bands need to take note on how to balance out their set lists because that’s how put on a great show. Of course, as things were coming towards the end, they played “Another Space Song” followed by their three song encore. Before going into those songs, Ken thanked the audience and said that it’s because of the fans that Failure was able to reunite and continue. They closed their set with “Heliotropic” and thanked the crowd once again.
This is my third time seeing Failure and I’ve seen them in a festival setting, a very small intimate club setting, and a mid size venue and I can say that all three times have been great. This was one of those bands that I wish would’ve played for another hour or so because that certainly did not feel like an hour and a half. However, the new album is still pretty fresh so I have no doubt that they will be back very soon and when they come back, I will be there.
Final Grade: A
Failure is:
Ken Andrews: Guitar, Voice, Bass
Greg Edwards: Guitar, Bass
Kelli Scott: Drums
Failure played:
- Crash Test Delayed
- Saturday Saviour
- Sergeant Politeness
- Princess
- Macaque
- Screen Man
- Undone
- Counterfeit Sky
- A Way Down
- Solaris
- Smoking Umbrellas
- The Nurse Who Loved Me
- Another Space Song
Encore:
- Headstand
- Stuck on You
- Heliotropic
