Review: Mr Bungle and Melvins at Metro City

Mr Bungle and Melvins at Metro City
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

A queue extending from Metro City’s front door to around the corner on Melbourne Street perfectly represented the long twenty-four years Mr Bungle fans have waited for their return. The interior, with its confusing staircases, filled quickly to the sounds of Bitches Brew by Miles Davis over the PA. One audience member donned a Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt, the ultimate shit-stirrer.

Grunge pioneers Melvins joyously walked on stage to Take on Me by A-Ha, with bassist Steven Shane McDonald lip-syncing and encouraging audience participation. Across from him, Buzz Osborne brought his guitar to low, fuzzy life as McDonald and drummer Coady Willis ominously joined in. The rumble reached a climax and morphed into Sesame Street Meat. Osborne rocked and stumbled back and forth, thrashing his instrument. His curly white hair, along with a black cloak covered in symbols of the Egyptian sun god Ra, gave him the appearance of a distortion wizard.

An extended intro/early drum solo from Crover led to an up-tempo rendition of It’s Shoved before slowing down for the sludge of Anaconda, both from 1991’s Bullhead. McDonald and Osborne's respective instruments at times seemed to have switched roles, with the guitar holding a driving, chugging rhythm while the bass, augmented by octave effects, provided various melodies and lead lines.

Melvins tore through a crunchy set drawing from their large discography, including Never Say You’re Sorry from 2022’s Bad Moon Rising. Showing little interest in trivial stagecraft tricks such as banter and crescendos for the most part, the red and black-suited bassist showed respect for the crowd by sitting up close and personal at the edge of the stage and yelling loving but unclear phrases over walls of feedback between songs. Trevor Dunn, bassist for the headliners and past Melvins collaborator, joined the band onstage towards the end of the set. The two low-enders went between slow dancing and battling with their instruments-turned-weapons strapped on.

A duo of songs lifted from film opening credits dramatised the arrival of Mr Bungle. A scratchy rendition of Also Sprach Zarathustra from 2001: A Space Odyssey played over the speakers before the five-piece eased into Timi Yuro’s Satan Never Sleeps, from the film of the same name. The relaxing tempo and spacious sound, speckled with tasteful guitar strums, gave way to Anarchy Up Your Anus from 2020’s The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo. A bloodcurdling scream from singer Mike Patton signalled a major shift in the performance. His black, floral shirt, shorts, and long socks brought the ‘if the lead singer looks like this, you’re gonna die in the pit’ meme to life. No such dangers seemed present in the pit, besides the odd, half-arsed attempt at crowd surfing.

Throughout the show, Mr Bungle routinely switched between thrash metal fangirls and the world's wackiest cover band. 10cc’s I’m Not in Love brought some early and welcomed tenderness to the show. Rhythm guitarist Scott Ian, also of Anthrax, explored chords and tones not commonly associated with him before returning to more familiar sounds for Eracist.

“What’s good in Perth, goddammit?!” Asked Patton, sounding like a comically angry cartoon character. His frantic, circular pacing on the stage added to this aesthetic, gesturing song changes to his bandmates in a militant manner, with the band managing to catch up to each other’s tempos just in time for successful and smooth transitions.

Another round of walls of distortion and jumping tempos ensued, including a cover of Slayer’s Hell Awaits. The steady moshing towards the front was interrupted by Spandau Ballet’s True and Hopelessly Devoted to You several songs later. These two numbers brought about some slightly embarrassed singalongs in the audience.

My Ass Is On Fire from their 1991 self-titled debut album finally showed the disturbed quirkiness that Mr Bungle are known for, the only song from their time on Warner Bros. in the set. Its driving and irresistible funk got audience members trampolining to the music in a manner Anthony Kiedis would find infuriating. Patton expressed fury when introducing Sudden Death: “This is our last song. It’s a pain in the ass!”

The stage emptied briefly before Buzz Osborne casually returned and began using his guitar to generate noise, summoning Mr Bungle back to the stage for an encore. Calling ‘encore’ is dated; guitar feedback is how you get the band back out.

The cinematic vibe returned with the now six-piece performing the theme from Experiment in Terror, with Mike Patton adding indistinguishable vocals through one of his effected microphones. Eventually, the show closed with a tribute to the departed Eric Carmen. All By Myself became ‘goooo fuuuuck yooouuurrseeeeelff!’ An irresistible chant for both the singer and the audience.

While energetic and a bit of loud fun, the set felt at times one-dimensional. With the exception of the covers, the variety and experimental qualities Mr Bungle are famous for seemed almost forgotten. However, Mr Bungle are also famous for not giving the live shows that people expect. A Mr Bungle is going to do what a Mr Bungle does.

AJ MAHAR

Photos by Tom Grut