I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: September 6, 2023] Mr. Bungle

Back in 1991 when the self-titled Mr. Bungle album came out, it was the perfect release for the era of weirdo music.

Sure, Mike Patton was the singer from Faith No More and they had a couple of huge hits, but he was a weird dude to be sure and Mr. Bungle is where he came from.

I enjoyed that self-titled album a ton and really liked their follow ups as well.  Each album was weird and genre-bounding.

Then in 2020, they “reunited” for a re-release of one of their early demos, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny.  This “Demo” version was a reworking of that album (and other songs) and featured Scott Ian (Anthrax) on rhythm guitar and Dave Lombardo (Slayer) on drums!

I was pretty excited for it.  And then when I heard it I was a bit let down because it was pretty much all hardcore and speed metal without much of the genre hopping that I loved about the band.   True, there were some great tracks on it, and it rocked really hard, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

When Mr. Bungle announced that they were going to tour, it turned out to be a tour of this album.  I was torn about whether I wanted to go.  But it didn’t matter because the tour was only in Brooklyn and California, so the heck with that.

But recently, they announced they were running through some of these lesser East Coast cities and Philly was a stop (as is Montclair, NJ!).  I was torn between being really excited–any opportunity to see Mike Patton is a good one.  Plus Dave Lombardo is a master.  I have never seen Anthrax and seeing Scott Ian live would be pretty awesome.  Finally, Trey Spruance is a weird, amazing guitar player.  Sorry Trevor Dunn, I had no thoughts about you.

But they were playing a bunch of speed metal which certainly worked with the lineup, but seemed to undersell their skills.  I grabbed a ticket anyway.  And of course, I was really excited for Battles.

But I knew  this crowd was going to suck.  They were rowdy and pushy before Battles even went on.  And as soon as the Also Sprach Zarathustra tape started, these guys started pushing everyone out of the way to make the mosh pit.  And it was a pretty aggressive one, too.   And that’s all fine, but when you’re there to actually see the band, it sucks when you have to keep your eye on the crowd to make sure you don’t get kicked in the head.

I thought I was over pretty far, but these jackasses made the pit massive, so I was way over past Trey Spruance by the time the show started.  I had actually wanted to be in front of Scott Ian, but I’m glad I was in front of Trey as he is a stunning guitar player.

Once all five were on stage, they started with songs from the album (I guess).  I have listened to it a few times, but I honestly don’t know it very well.  Plus, for the first two songs, I was just getting pushed around until I found a place to stand.

After three songs (and these songs are surprisingly long for speed metals songs), they played “Speak Spanish or Die” and Mike Patton was in great form for that song, getting everyone to sing along.

At this point I didn’t know how long we were into the set.  Previous setlists suggested the show was an hour and ten minutes, and that the S.O>D> song was in the middle.  Was the show half over already?  No, Patton hates bands that play the same set every night.  So, there was no way of knowing what we’d be get.  After “Bungle Grind,” the band slowed things down with a surprisingly faithful cover of 10cc’s ballad “I’m Not in Love.”

It was at this point that I really started to enjoy myself because I knew it wasn’t going to just be speed metal that I didn’t know very well.  They clearly had a ton of fun playing this cheesy song, with all of the members of the band whispering “big boys don’t cry” at the end. Scott Ian in particular seemed to be really enjoying himself.

They followed that with their excellent song “Eracist” (one of the few new songs and easily the best on the record).

Then they blew through a number of other songs. Some were super catchy (and were probably punk covers).  I’m assuming that the songs in which Trey Spruance played amazing speed metal guitar solos  were actual Mr. Bungle songs.  His soloing was insane and fun to watch.

Then they slowed things down and I realized that they were playing the introduction to “Hell Awaits” by Slayer.   And there was Dave Lombardo playing his famous drumming intro part.  The guitars played the super fast riffs, the bass plunked down the throbs and …  then they stopped.   Which was kind of a bummer, as I would love to hear Patton do Araya.  But things shifted gears very quickly as Mike started gently crooning “ah ah ah ahhhhh ah, I know this much is true.  Yes, a Spandau Ballet cover!  After a verse and chorus they plugged in a super fast heavy cover of a 7 Seconds song and then finished “True.”

The only “other” Mr. Bungle song that they played was “My Ass is on Fire” from the self-titled album.  It’s a mash of noise and screaming and fits in fine with the rest of what they played.  They ended it with the Pepto Bismol jingle and Scott Ian playing fart sounds on his guitar (to much amusement from all).

Mike said they had one more song and they played “Raping Your Mind.”

I was under the impression that they didn’t do an encore.  So as soon as the song was over, I started heading for the exit.  I was a little surprised that Dave Lombardo didn’t come up and wave to everyone–he just headed off stage.  But I didn’t know much about the Mr. Bungle experience.

By the time I got to the back of the room, it seemed clear that they were going to come back out.  And they did.  They played a slow song that I didn’t know, which it turns out was Satan Never Sleeps a cover of the weird Timi Yuro song.  And then Patton started laughing maniacally and they started playing a riff that I recognized, but couldn’t tell what it was.   By this time I had moved back along the edge of the crowd and was pretty close again.

Patton started yelling into his walkie talkie type thing and it all seemed to make sense and then I could hear what they were playing–“Loss of Control” by Van Halen.  What an awesome cover!   The band sounded great and the song was fantastic.

After that was when Lombardo came out and threw sticks to people (on the other side) and I think Scott Ian hurled a boxful of picks at everyone (I probably wouldn’t have gotten one of those either).  I had already started heading for the door by then, missing the waving and goodbyes.  I was wiped out and looking forward to getting home reasonably early.

So this show was both better and worse than I imagined.

They are also playing Saturday in Montclair.  I considered going to that show instead of this one.  I’m tempted to go to see if the NJ crowd is any better.  And at least I’d know where to stand to get drumsticks or picks.

1. Also sprach Zarathustra, op. 30 [tape]
2. Grizzly Adams ⊗
3. Sudden Death ⊗
4. Hypocrites ⊗
5. Habla español o muere (Stormtroopers of Death “cover”)
6. Bungle Grind ⊗
7. I’m Not in Love (10cc cover)
8. Eracist ⊗
9. Glutton for Punishment ⊗
10. World Up My Ass (Circle Jerks cover)
11. Anarchy Up Your Anus ⊗
12. Methematics ⊗
13. Hell Awaits (Slayer cover)
14. True (Spandau Ballet cover)
15. You Lose (7 Seconds cover)
16. True (Spandau Ballet cover)
17. Spreading the Thighs of Death ⊗
18. My Ass is on Fire ¶
19. Raping Your Mind ⊗
    encore
20. Satan Never Sleeps (Timi Yuro cover)
21. Loss of Control (Van Halen cover)

¶ Mr. Bungle (1991)
⊗ The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo (2020)