I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 28, 2026] Tomahawk

I’ve seen Mike Patton with two bands: Dead Cross and Mr. Bungle. I enjoy anything he does and am always happy to see what he comes up with (Although I didn;t like the Avett Brothers/Patton country sound all that much).  St this point, there’s realistically only two other bands I’d like to see him front live, Fantômas (which I doubt will happen) and Faith No More (which could happen).  I’d also like to see Mr. Bungle again, since the show I saw was their debut album only, but whatever.  Tomahawk is a Patton-fronted project that I was into for a bit and then it just felt like there were too many Patton related bands to keep track of at the time (Lovage, Peeping Tom, Fantômas, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) so I stopped following them.  Which is a shame because their music is quite diverse (I mean, all Patton music is diverse, often within the same song, but…oh forget it).

So anyhow, Tomahawk put out an album in during the pandemic but hadn’t toured it.  Then, a few months ago, they announced this tour with the Melvins: a huge waste of your time and money (hilarious).

Even though I wasn’t a huge fan, I knew I had to see them.  In addition to Patton, the band featured Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard, Firewater) on guitar John Stanier (Helmet, Battles) on drums and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, tons of other things) on bass.  A great lineup.

The lights came up and the stage was fairly sparse. Drums in the back (with Stanier’s outrageously tall cymbals), a table of some sort out front for Patton and amps on either side. Because of the table, I couldn’t see Trevor Dunn very much (he hung back) until he came up to sing backing vocals.  But I had a great view of Denison and it was amazing watching him play.  He’s not flashy at all, but he does al kinds of interesting things to generate interesting sounds.

In fact, the whole show was not flashy at all.  There were no fancy lights or projections (just the band’s logo on a curtain in the back).  In fact, half way through the set I realized that the setlist was taped to Patton’s table.

They opened with the first song on their first album.  Rather appropriate, I think. The squeaking sound of some kind of effect opened the set as Patton whispered the lyrics to Flashback and the crowd went berserk.  The song took off and the mosh pit started.  Tomahawk is a hard band to mosh to, because their songs go at varying tempos and intensity.  But people managed it.

Tomahawk never toured that 2021 album, so they finally had a chance to play it live.  I suppose old school fans wanted to hear their earlier stuff (although, I mean this album is 5 years old, it’s not exactly new), but I really enjoyed this new stuff.   And the played 9 of the ten songs from it.

SHHH! has lots of vocal parts and I really enjoyed at the end of the song when Patton whispers the title.  It seemed like he was trying to get everyone to stop yelling things (which they did during the quiet parts), but I realized it was part of the song.  Predators and Scavengers has a cool riff and simple chugging guitar parts.  It was fun being in front of Duane Denison for this one.  I loved turning my head from Patton to see what he was doing and he was inevitably calmly playing some cool thing or other.

I had listened to the setlist before the show since I didn’t really know the songs that well (if at all) and one of my favorites was Business Casual.  It was really fun watching Mike and Trevor scream the lyrics and then whisper “bad cholesterol, business casual.”  Dension made interesting quiet guitar sounds while Dunn’s bass rumbled along.  I liked that Doomsday Fatigue had quiet moments–because Patton’s (and the whole band’s) range is tremendous and it’s fun to see them really show off what they can do.

I’m not sure what was on Patton’s table.  There was a lot of gear, including a laptop and things with dials.  He also had a music stand with a book on it (lyrics, I assume).  It was funny watching him squint at the laptop between songs–was he trying to figure out what song was next or was he setting up the sounds for the next song?

After those new songs, when they played the opening electronic drums of Capt. Midnight the crowd really erupted.  I felt a little bad that people were happy for the electronic drums when the beast that is John Stanier was behind the kit.  But fear not he had plenty to do throughout the night and I swear he hit the drums harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.  Plus it’s fun to see him hit those really tall cymbals.  Incidentally, back in 2023 when I saw Mr. Bungle, Battles opened for them.  Musically they are very very different, but I loved watching their drummer.  Well, their drummer is this drummer which explains why they opened.  Stainer was amazing then and was possibly more amazing tonight.

They stayed on the Mit Gas album for two more songs–the crazy catchy Rape This Day (with thunderous and echoing drums) and the longer Birdsong (which featured either Patton or his table full of gear making bird sounds at the beginning and end).  What sounded like an intro to Birdsong was actually the new song Eureka–two minutes of sounds and voices before the bass rumble of Birdsong kicked in.  I tend to think that Tomahawk songs are longer than they are (Mr. Bungle, anyone?) but most are around 3 minutes (except Birdsong) so the set just flew by with song after song.

Patton didn’t say much.  About half way through the set he shouted Philadelphia!  How ya doin?  Then gave two thumbs up and said It’s good to be here.  I really liked the guitar riffs in Howlie and Recoil–two newer songs that do loud and quiet together so well.

Then it was back to the Oddfellows album (much applause) and some wild guitar work from Denison in South Paw.  Some songs, like this one, have easily discernable lyrics occasionally like, You rub me so wrong, rub me so wrong / Please keep your clothes on, keep your clothes on. So we can all sing along.

As they started to play Valentine Shine, someone in the band commented that this was the first time they’d played it live–a world premiere!

There was a guy next to me who was so into the set–he knew all the words and sound effects.  And he loved hearing Point and Click.  They ended the set with Sidewinder, another seemingly quiet new song–but there’s much loudness to come..

At a previous show they did a country cover but here they just left the stage after waving and saying That’s all they had. But of course, it wasn’t.  After the tech crew made some adjustments, the band came back out and they played a goofy cover: Hot Rod Lincoln the 1955 rockabilly song.  And I had to laugh because Denison had a bit of a flub during one of those rockabilly licks–despite playing far more complex stuff all night long.

The rest of the encore was a trio of their more beloved songs.  A ripping God Hates a Coward (no gasmask for Patton to sing into), White Hats/Black Hats and ending with Totem.  I loved watching John play the drums on this one because of the multiple hit hat hits (with some kind of dampener on them) that punctuated the set.

And then they were done, hoping that we all be together again in less than 13 years.  Could a Fantômas reunion be next?

1. Flashback ∠
2. SHHH! ♠
3. Predators and Scavengers ♠
4. Business Casual ♠
5. Doomsday Fatigue ♠
6. Capt. Midnight Ψ
7. Rape This Day Ψ
8. Eureka ♠
9. Birdsong Ψ
10. Howlie ♠
11. Recoil ♠
12. South Paw Ø
13. I.O.U Ø
14. Valentine Shine (live debut) ♠
15. Point and Click ∠
16. Sidewinder ♠
    encore
17. Hot Rod Lincoln (Charlie Ryan cover)
18. God Hates a Coward ∠
19. White Hats/Black Hats Ø
20. Totem ∀

♠ Tonic Immobility (2021)
Ø Oddfellows (2013)
∀ Anonymous (2007)
Ψ Mit Gas (2003)
∠ Tomahawk (2001)