Scritchy Homepage

Mr. Bungle took the stage in Village People drag at the Sno-Core package tour at the Warfield theater. Singer Mike Patton played the sailor, guitarist Trey Spruance the Shakespearian actor (you remember that Village Person) and the other three members dressed respectively as the Indian, carpenter, cowboy and grocery store clerk.

The variety of their performance was not in costume alone.

Bungle combined Patton's patented scatting (the finest since Mel Torme, no kidding) with Spruance's sonic scaffolding and the crispest rhythm section since Bootsy Collins backed James Brown. With a rapacious range of influence from puke-in-your-face punk to slap-your-skull Igor Stravinsky they displayed skittish eccentricity with chops tight as a frog's ass.

Co-performers Puya, Incubus and System Of A Down (if you've heard Korn and Limp Biscuit you've heard these guys) were shamed by Bungle's mastery of the classical speed metal form. The key word being classical as these guys have brought composition to rock. Their musical erudition comes from three members having degrees in music, and the confidence only a group that has played together for fifteen years can know.

Mr. Bungle opened with Air Conditioned Nightmare"from their third and latest album California. The ditty opens with barbershop falsetto harmonies backed by galloping bongos and makes headway into edgy Cha-Cha keyboards and razor-exact Rush-style guitar playing. Next was the Italian-Arabic-obsessed Ars Moriendi." Patton howled like Zorba the Greek beating his horses to go faster. Plush samples of accordion and violin circled melodically; speed metal guitars gave way to a hopping circus beat. A hypnotic chant precedes an operatic melody that crash lands into the dusty roads of the Mediterranean.

They gave nod to swing and rockabilly in None Of Them Knew They Were Robots;"mixing it up with stoned scats, punk beats and Latin whispering; climaxing with a schizophrenic leapfrog of Patton crooning into his microphone and screaming into a static-y CB. Patton's platform pranks resembled a puppet out of Being John Malkovitch." In a spidery pose he crouched down facing away from the audience, bobbing up and down while he orated into his clenched together microphones. Suddenly he twisted around with a scream and a lurch. A stumble later he was back at his keyboard to adjust sound levels.

The hyperactive band jumped around, fell on the floor and knocked their instruments about without missing a note.

"Are there any raging hard d-- out there tonight?" asked the abrasive yet affable front man. "I'm just trembling thinking about 'em. Anyone wearing tight shorts? How you guys doing out there?" The house lights illuminated the clove cigarette smoking, condom balloon bouncing audience as they retorted with screeches, piercing whistles and cat calls of "F-- you!"

"You guys ready for our Live 105 hit?" Patton asked the crowd while making operatic arm movements. Answered by screams the crooner led his band into the anthem-y Retrovertigo;"a spacious tinkly hard-hitting number that displayed the group's previously untapped commercial capacity.

Afterword Patton announced, "right now I'd like to present the honorary guitar of Sno-Queer 2000! As modeled by Mr. Trey Spruance." Spruance lifted up an elongated guitar made from a ski.

"That's one queer guitar," said bassist Trevor Dunn.

"Didn't Pantera used to play a guitar like that?" Patton continued. "You guys heard the rumors about Phil? (Phil Anselmo, lead singer of Macho-metal group Pantera). He came out of the closet! Phil I love you man! Keep up the fight." With that they launched into a medley of Travolta and My Ass Is On Fire"from their first album, Mr. Bungle."The songs rocked out to a circus thematic meeting of Warner Bros. cartoon music, Arabic riffs and super fast sonic assaults.

Vanity Fair graced the audience with a Frank Zappa style Do-Wop number, digressed into anthem-punk, and returned in crooning glory. They closed their set with Goodbye Sober day, a Gregorian ratatat scat, death metal sludge that infected the atmosphere with it's bone rattling vibrations.

"Lady's and gentlemen you've been great. This has been the best blow job I've ever had." Looking cute in navy blue Patton mimicked fellatio with the microphone.

Scritchy Homepage