At the start of this thing in the summer of 2015, I attended a concert for the rock band Faith No More. I’d been a fan since my youth and had even met the lead singer, Mike Patton, back when Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church was The Houston Summit. Back in those days, it was the number one place to go for concerts, and for those in the know, a good place to meet rock stars. The tour buses could be seen parked out back which is where the bands would often go after the show. Inside the Summit, a series of long winding hallways eventually led to a blue metal door that, although sometimes locked, also led to where those tour buses were parked. So, you either waited around for someone to open the door (which usually happened eventually) and snuck outside, or you got lucky and found it unlocked (which was also pretty common). This was back in the early nineties when it was a whole lot easier to get away with stuff. Anyway, that’s how I met Mike Patton. After sneaking through the blue metal door, I waited outside with about ten other fans until Mr. Patton finally made an appearance. Keeping his head down, he filed past us, boarded the tour bus and quickly closed the door behind him. You can imagine our disappointment. Perhaps motivated by guilt or by the realization that we weren’t going anywhere, he reappeared about ten minutes later and obliged us in taking pictures and signing autographs. He was actually quite friendly, a bit shy and standoffish, but friendly.
Nearly twenty-five years later, seated in the lower balcony of the Bayou Music Center, I replayed that moment in my mind. The opening band had just finished their set as I watched the stagehands prep for the main show. The two men lined the stage with numerous bouquets of flowers, bringing them out one at a time starting from right to left. It seemed significant to me, almost like it was some kind of ritual. At the time, I was deeply involved with my research into the death of River Phoenix. My blog had gone live, the comments had begun, and a couple of months later, I was drowning in the trenches of an unexpected spiritual battle. At the height of my fiery trial, when everything under the sun seemed to hold prophetic significance, I considered that Faith No More concert again. Just like everything else in my life at that time, the concert threatened to become another layer into my new programming. It threatened to leave me without hope and without faith.
It was the opening band that really left its mark. They called themselves Napalm Death, and I remembered the lead singer going off on a tangent about how he’d fallen into a hole. I made the connection a few months later when I also fell into a hole (or more to the point, a pit) designed, pre-calculated, and intent on leaving me with faith no more. This is just a small example of what the butterfly net or the spider’s web is like, and after passing through the fire, it is extremely effective and nearly inescapable. Thankfully, God had that part covered.
A few months before the Faith No More concert, I became a born-again Christian. I remember feeling guilty about even going to the show, but the tickets had already been bought and I figured, what’s the harm? All I can say is, there’s a different spirit at work in those places, case in point, the Astroworld Festival of 2021 here in Houston. In my case, the spirits at the Faith No More concert knew who I was and what was about to befall me. The trap had been set and the pit ready and anxious for a new occupant. Thankfully, I had the Holy Spirit on my side, or more importantly, on my inside.
Upon writing this post, I did a Google search for Mike Patton just to look into his background and to see how he was doing these days. He released a statement this past September announcing the cancellation of his remaining shows as well as the band’s 2022 tour dates due to mental health reasons. Knowing what I know now about the entertainment industry, I hope he finds his way out, and I pray he finds the right Spirit to guide him.
On a side note…
In the early 1990’s, Faith No More earned their biggest hit with the single, Epic. The video for the song featured a fish out of water at the end, violently flapping around as it struggled to breathe while slowly dying on the ground. Animal rights activists, namely PETA, were in an uproar as they cited animal abuse and accused the band of murdering the fish. Faith No More insisted that the fish was not killed during the making of the video and was thrown back into the water after a few seconds. In light of this controversy, the band released a concert t-shirt that stated, “The Fish Lives.” Just before meeting Mike Patton, I purchased that shirt at the show and was able to have it signed by the entire band. After wearing it the next day to school, I left it hanging in my closet, unwashed, until my mom threw it away a few months later. I was absolutely crushed. Even now, I wish I still had that shirt.
The Apple and the birdcage 