It’s a cool Friday night in August, and Faithless were set to play in the stunning surroundings of The Piece Hall in Halifax.
I make it no secret that I’m primarily into my indie/rock/britpop, so realistically, I didn’t really have expectations, as apart from the odd “Clubland” hit every now and then, I wasn’t really a dance music person, but given the amazing things I’d heard about Faithless, I was willing to give them a go, even without the presence of Maxi Jazz.
When I arrived at Piece Hall, the courtyard was already buzzing, and people arrived early to queue, long before Faithless made an appearance, which is always really positive to see.
If there’s one regret I do take away from the night, is not getting there earlier myself and having an explore of the venue properly, admittedly it was my first time at The Piece Hall, but it certainly won’t be the last! It’s an unexpected but brilliant place for a gig!
Faithless on stage at The Piece Hall in Halifax – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Onto the actual gig, and there was definitely some excitement in the air – and when the lights went down, the crowd reacted instantly and continued doing so through the clever graphics, right until the first beat dropped, everyone around me seemed locked in immediately – plenty of shapes being thrown in the crowd, and at times it felt like they were moving as one and the basslines were so powerful, they rippled through me and the rows behind me.
In all honesty, it was the classics were what really lifted the night, the obvious one of “Insomnia,” as well as “God Is a DJ,” and “We Come 1” they all landed incredibly well with the crowd, they were bouncing and dancing so hard I could feel the ground vibrating beneath my feet.
That said, “Insomnia” came earlier in the setlist than I expected, which I think shocked everyone a little bit – I certainly expected it at the end, if not the very end, as it’s one of the most iconic club tracks of all time and hearing it live elevated the track to a new level for me.
Nathan Ball of Faithless on stage at The Piece Hall – Halifax, 2025 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Nathan Ball and Amelia Fox are the newer vocal additions to the band I was interested to see how they would perform, whilst I don’t think the crowd interaction was there, the stage presence certainly was from all of Faithless, in particular Sister Bliss who was on keyboard, synth and whatever else on her set-up, it looked and sounded impressive and her stage presence really shone out despite being towards the back, but the songs did sometimes blend a bit too much into each other, this is where I feel more crowd interaction would have broke it up and maybe made for a smoother feel.
Now I did notice was a big shift in the crowd energy when their newer material was played there just seemed to be a bit of a disconnect and the energy did flop somewhat – I feel like possibly their big hits and classics maybe hold too much emotional weight, so it was another reason I was so surprised to see “Insomnia” so early on – but their new album “Champion Sound” is yet to be released in full when this gig was going on, so that could improve with time.
That said though, there was a thoughtful yet emotional tribute to Maxi Jazz, who from the crowd’s reaction was definitely there in spirit, as well as in visuals, and in song as Sister Jazz dedicated “Drifting Away” to Jazz.
After a bit of a rollercoaster of a set so far, they managed to claw back the energy of the crowd, with a suprise in the form of “Don’t You Want Me”, it instantly went back into party mode and everyone just bonded together, friends and strangers alike were hugging and dancing together, whilst shouting the lyrics out, myself included.
Sister Bliss of Faithless – on stage at The Piece Hall – Halifax, 2025 – Photo Credit: Hayley Grice
Sister Bliss took the lead and thanked the crowd saying “Halifax, you know how to party!” and she is 10000% right, even as someone not into the dance/electronic scene all that much – it was an incredibly enjoyable gig and one I think will have stuck with many for a while.
Overall it like a celebration, a tribute to Maxi Jazz, and just a great excuse to party together through dance music – a brilliant evening, a brilliant venue and not too bad a set.
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