After not seeing a live concert for about eight months now, I have really been appreciating the “livestreams” starting to happen with increased frequency. Mr. Bungle is a band I have heard many times but not one I ever saw live. Their ADD style of music is not something I am always in the mood for but Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo recently joining the band definitely piqued my curiosity.
This stream aired on Halloween (the Michael Myers head on top of Scott’s amp was a nice touch) but one of the benefits of the livestream format is being able to watch the stream up to 48-72 hours later depending on the band, which is exactly what I did in this case.
Neil Hamburger opened the stream with a very dry comedy set making fun of the likes of Kiss, Britney Spears, Eagles, Foo Fighters, U2, Aerosmith, and others interspersed with some backstage tomfoolery including footage of Mike Patton getting Coolio braids.
The concert portion of the stream was unique in the fact that it was staged in the Eureka Public Library, which made the opening number of Mr. Rogers “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” that much funnier. Part of the impetus of this incarnation of the band revolves around a re-recording of the band’s infamous demo The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny so the remainder of the setlist was a mixture of those songs and cover songs. My favorite covers included an altered lyric version of Seals & Crofts “Summer Breeze,” a much needed metal version of “La Cucaracha” and Van Halen’s “Tora! Tora!” and “Loss of Control” in tribute to Eddie Van Halen. Anyone who has heard Mike Patton’s vocal range will not be surprised to hear that he can sound a hell of a lot like David Lee Roth when he wants to. Similarly anyone who has heard/seen Trey Spruance play the guitar will not disagree when I proclaim him to be a wizard.
All in all it was pretty fantastic to see these guys lock into a groove and then suddenly without warning shift the tempo up to warp speed or slow it way down. It was also pretty funny that they cut to a couch in between songs for cameos from Glenn Howerton, Henry Rollins, Brendan Small, David Yow, Suzy Cole, King Buzzo, Josh Homme and Brian Posehn. I can only hope that one day I will get to see Mr. Bungle in person one day.
