Mr. Bungle Europe 1996

 

Band Members: Danny Heifetz – Drums. Trevor Dunn – Bass. Clinton (Bär) McKinnon - Tenor sax, Clarinet, Keyboards. Trey Spruance - Guitar, Keyboards. Mike Patton – Vocals. William Winnant – Percussion.

 

Dates: February 6^h to March 7^th.

 

Number Of Shows Played: 25

 

Cities: 25

Countries: 13

 

Number Of Songs Played: 34

 

Songs Debuted on Tour: Benny Hill Show Theme, Cosmic Keys To My Creations And Times, The Jet Rock, The Jet

 

Overview: This is my second favorite tour of all three ‘Disco Volante’ tours. The addition of some new covers, and the fact that the band had been playing the stuff from the U.S. part of the tour for a while now really pays off for this tour. The improv’s are incredible, and the band generally plays at top form. I really hope that one day some officially recorded live stuff from this tour gets released.

 

The Songs That Were Played:

 

"24.000 Baci" (Adriano Celentano)

One of my favorite bungle covers of all time. This song featured William Winnant on keyboards, and had a really swank, vegas type feel.

 

"Benny Hill Show Theme

Was this actually played? I’m going to list this as rumored until anyone can prove it to me otherwise.

 

"Casanova 70" (Armando Trovajoli)

Another great cover debuted on the previous tour. This song wasn’t played near as much as it should have been. It features William Winnant on cuica, which obviously rules. Why didn’t they bring this back in 99?

 

"Cold War" (Siege)

A fairly straight ahead cover. Done in as a heavy metal song. A lot of percussion coming from William Winant.

 

"Cosmic Keys To My Creations And Times" (Emperor)

(review coming soon)

 

"Der Zinker" (Peter Thomas)

This would start out with Winnant and Heifetz, and then the rest of the group would come in. A really great song, my only complaint is that its really short, but well worth the listen. Another song that should have been brought back in 1999.

 

"Ei Raat Tomar Amar" (Hemanta Mukherjee)

This song is an interesting little number. The arrangement consists of piano, bells and vocals for the beginning. At one point a guitar part comes in, then some synth strings. Another quiet song that the audience enjoyed talking over. This song was played again in 1999, but no where near as well.

 

"Everybody's Working For The Weekend" (Loverboy)

This was only played once on the tour, which in my opinion is a good thing.

 

"I Sin For A Living" (The Meatmen)

Very short, and very fast. I haven’t heard any recordings of this clear enough to really tell what is going on. Anyone care to comment on it?

 

"La Lucertola" (Ennio Morricone)

This is my favorite cover Mr. Bungle has ever done. It was played fairly often during the tour. It would start out with Trey playing the main melody on trumpet, and then Patton would sing the main melody. Heifetz’s drumming always is great in this.

 

"Let Me Out" (Babs Gonzales)

A great song, but most recordings of this are wrecked by audience members yelling for ‘Girls Of Porn’ and other lame stuff. The arrangement sounds to just be a very simple drum part, a guitar, and Patton singing. This wasn’t played nearly enough

 

"Loss For Words" (Corrosion Of Conformity)

A highlight of the tour, this was done fairly similar to the original. Trey’s playing was always great on this. This was played more often on this tour than on the previous one.

 

"Love Dance of the Saroos" (Joe Meek)

A great cover version. Very light and up beat, and provided perfect contrast to other songs that were played. The instrumentation is guitar and bass outlining the chords, and keys and Mike Patton whistling for the melody.

 

"Love In Space" (Peter Thomas)

Another slow song. Mr. Bungle played a lot of great slow songs on this tour, its too bad the audience talked over them. This featured a great sax solo, with minimalist accompaniment.

 

"Muscoli Di Velluto" (Ennio Morricone)

Another great cover. This is fairly close to the original. The instrumentation is great, using the full group. Patton sings melody lines with out lyrics, and the whole band seems to have fun with the song.

 

"Radar" (Bernard Herrmann)

This was only played 3 times on this tour, and I haven’t heard a recording of it. Anyone care to share?

 

"The Jet Rock" (Mikis Theodorakis)

(review coming soon)

 

"The Jet" (Mikis Theodorakis)

(review coming soon).

 

After School Special

This was done surprisingly good in my opinion. During the parts between verses, William Winnant’s percussion is a treat. Trey usually played around a little with the short guitar solo. This song ends with the line “she says”, and doesn’t go into the stuff after that on the CD. This was only played once during this tour.

 

Backstrokin

This was done fairly similar to the album version, but suffers due to the lack of studio effects.

 

Carry Stress In The Jaw

Defiantly a highlight of the tour. This song ruled. Danny Heifetz was in top form during each performance. This song was played similar to the album version, with improv added before the Edgar Allen Poe part

 

Chemical Marriage

This was played the same as it was on the album. This was the second tour on which this song was played, and it could still hold it’s own.

 

Desert Search for Techno Allah

Another tour highlight. A lot of improv was worked into this song. It was played just like it was on the album, but with some sections stretched out a bit for improv.

 

Everyone I Went To High School With Is Dead

In my opinion, this was the high point of the tour. This was usually played near the end of the show, and contained loads of improvisation. The two verses were there, but musically, everything was different every night.

 

Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz

To the best of my knowledge, this was played every night during the tour. It was played similar to the album version, with the standard deviation coming in Patton’s “mouth sounds” (read: stuff 4 year old kids do), and with improvisation occurring at the end.

 

Phlegmatics

Done the same as the album version, the only difference is that the intro was played by Patton using a drum machine.

 

Platypus

This song was only played twice. It was played similar to the album version, with improvisation coming during the bass solo, and the “no relation to the flounder” speech.

 

Secret Song

Played pretty much as it was on the album, without Trevor’s old guy parts. Bär played drums on this, and Danny Heifetz played keyboards.

 

The Bends - Aqua Swing

Done as similar to the album version as possible, always with solo (sometimes solos). Always a good part of the set.

 

The Bends - Love On The Event Horizon

I don’t believe this was played as such. I am guessing that someone just called an improvised event this. Can anyone prove me wrong? If so, please EMAIL me.

 

The Bends - Panic In Blue

Very similar to the album version, with some minor “free form” improvisation added for good measure. In my opinion the live versions of this never were as great as the studio version.

 

Travolta

Ok. This song is starting to become a burden. This was played the same as it always was. A bit of nostalgia for the old folks.

 

Violenza Domestica

This song is a highlight of this tour for me. There is a very different arrangement, and I plan on putting up an mp3 of it shortly.

 

 

Other People’s Opinions:

 

No one has left their opinion of this tour yet. I guess that means that everything I said is exactly right. If you want to add an opinion on this tour, email me, and I will put it up.