Mr. Bungle San Francisco CA, November 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: November 25^th and 26th

 

Number Of Shows Played: 2

 

Cities: 1

Countries: 1

 

Number Of Songs Played: 32

 

Songs Debuted on Tour: “Begin the Beguine" (Cole Porter), "Where The Action Is" (Freddy Cannon), Hick, My Ass Is On Fire (completely revamped version).

 

Overview: I know this technically isn’t a tour, but I feel it should be included as a different entity than any other 1996 tours. For one thing, there were 4 new songs premiered, 2 of them never to show up again.

 

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.

 

“Begin the Beguine" (Cole Porter)

This song featured Patton and Heifetz heavily. Basically its just the two of them playing a straight forward cover of this standard.

 

"Cold War" (Siege)

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

 

"Der Zinker" (Peter Thomas)

(review coming soon)

 

"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.

 

"Fast Satoh?" (Masaru Sato)

(review coming soon)

 

"La Lucertola" (Ennio Morricone)

Patton would sing the main melody. Heifetz’s drumming always is great in this.

 

"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.

 

"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.

 

"Slow Satoh?" (Masaru Sato)

A very nice piece. This was a slow, down tempo song, which featured a lot of keyboards, some percussion, and great saxophone playing.

 

"The Breeze And I" (Ernesto Lecuona)

Mr. Bungle sure liked covering slow songs on this tour. This is another. Scarce instrumentation, Saxophone and Guitar take the melody, while percussion supplements the chords.

 

"The Jet Rock" (Mikis Theodorakis)

(review coming soon)

 

"The Jet" (Mikis Theodorakis)

(review coming soon)

 

"Tower Of Strength" (Frankie Vaughan)

This was done surprisingly similar to the original. Patton croons on this one, and girls from 5 miles around get hot pants, hotcha!

 

"Where The Action Is" (Freddy Cannon)

A cover of the old Freddy Cannon song. It was done pretty straight forward, with Patton using an over exaggerated voice.

 

"You Don't Know What Love Is" (Chet Baker)

This song was only played once on this tour. It was played the same way as it was in 1992.

 

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.

 

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 song was always a good change of pace, and a good contrast to the improve stuff. 

 

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.

 

Hick

Does anyone know what the deal with this song is? Did they write it? If so, why was it only played once? I haven’t heard the whole thing, but from the bits and pieces I have heard, it seems to be Patton singing with some stupid “southern accent” to a country type song. Click Here for an mp3 of it.

 

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.

 

My Ass is on Fire

The version of this played at these shows is TOTALLY different than the version on the first album. This one is similar to the played in 1999, but noisier, and longer. Mp3 coming soon. 

 

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 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 - 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. 2 shows, 2 nights in a row. Must Travolta have been played both nights? 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.