Fantômas

What can I say? Mike Patton is a damn genius. Every time I see him with any of his projects I'm always amazed to say the least. When I heard Fantômas had been added last minute to the lineup for the last Tool show of their tour, without any second thought I jumped online to purchase tickets. I didn't even care if I overdrafted my account to do so lol. I honestly thought I would never see Fantômas play live again, and that they might be a done deal so I couldn't pass on the chance. Patton, Dunn, Buzzo, and Grover were absolutely flawless (as usual). Hearing them play "Director's Cut" live is an experience on it's own level entirely. My only, ONLY complaint is directed towards whatever production compamy either the venue or Tool had hired to film and stream the event live. It appeared they had the sound rigged for recording, with a blatant disregard for the live sound quality. Mike Patton's microphone wasn't connected properly, causing all kinds of popping and crackling noise, leaving Patton's brilliant vocals to barely be heard. But, like a true professional, and showing a great deal of character, he continued to carry on play through. I had heard from various people who had attended, that several people repeatedly complained and tried to get the sound techs to fix the issue, but were all very rudely snapped at by the technicians and were told to "shut up and sit down". Unprofessional on their part doesn't even begin to accurately describe that situation. Also, the company in charge of filming had a helicopter flying dangerously low overhead of the audience repeatedly. So between the helicopter and technical deficiencies on behalf of the sound crew, I felt myself straining to hear my favourite musician. A major dissapointment, but by no means any fault of Fantômas. After all is said and done though, I otherwise had a fantastic time and am truly grateful to have had the opportunity once more to witness the holy magnificence of Mike Patton. Obviously having attended for Fantômas, I was also highly impressed by Primus. They too played a flawless set, had outstanding energy, and played a perfect mix of the old hits as well as newer material. That being my first time seeing Primus live left a terrific impression. They are an amazing band all around as well. Tool... they played well, but were a bit boring. I could've more easily put on a Tool CD and played about with a laser pointer lol. (I am and have been a fan of theirs for many many years, not knocking them entirely ;) And Clutch. To be honest that was the first time I'd actually heard any of their music. Heard the name several times but never had a listen. Definitely, definitely not what I was expecting lol. For a moment I thought that Foghat or Wolfmother had been added to the bill haha. To be quick about it, not my taste in the least. But to be fair they sounded like more than decent musicians. Lastly to any Patton fans who have not as of yet had the pleasure, next time an opportunity arises to catch him live via any one of his numerous acts, jump on it. I promise he won't disappoint!

To call Mike Patton a musical genius is to vastly underrate the man. So when I had the chance to catch Fantômas live at a festival I jumped at it. The band is almost a punk/ metal super group with a twist. Most people know Patton from Faith No More but this project shows a vastly different side to the man. With an extremely stylistic approach to music, Fantômas cannot be pinned down to a genre. In one show I heard Gregorian chant, music made from random found noises and lot of incredibly interesting percussion from Dave Lombardo (only the drummer for Slayer!). Not for the faint of heart or the musically incurious, a Fantômas show is like a descent into an electronic delirium of sound. There were hardly any of what you could call normal lyrics, instead a strange succession of beat boxing, scat singing and odd sounds emanating from the mic of Mr. Patton. One of the highlights for me was a twisted rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”, with crowd participation, punctuated by blips of noise and feedback. It’s completely bonkers and really shouldn’t work but somehow Mike Patton manages to work his magic and it turns into something wonderful, if not quite 100% coherent. If you aren’t afraid to try something new and be challenged in your very definition of what music is, why not give Fantômas a listen.