They played almost the entire album note for note. It was unbelievable, every sample, pick noise, scream, cough and stick hit was reproduced accurately. The humorous stage presence added to the entertainment value. Four very different personalites, are mashed together to create this band. You've got the metal guy, the Seatle grunge god, Wierdo jazz-metal bassist, and the eccentric and creative singer (who is managing to live-down his cheesy MTV persona).
Patton managed to play keyboards, adjust effect pedals, and sing into three different microphones without a single noticeable mistake. All the performances were spot on. They were so obsessed with perfection that they even played a song twice (I didn't hear any mistakes). However, I'm not so sure everyone in attendence deserved this jawdropping performance.
People were trying to mosh (in vain most of the time). The songs are so short and move quickly from one riff to another. Any moshable riffs only last for about ten seconds at best, but of course there were still meatheads trying throw down in the "pit." Plus, the screams for Slayer related material (which were funny at first) actually distracted Lombardo at the beginning of one song. The crowd noise managed to ruin the dynamics of some of the music. At one point Patton stopped in the middle of a song and shouted at the crowd, "We'll play some metal, If you stop acting like a bunch of fucking CANADIANS!!!" People screamed louder.
Fortunately for the respectful people in the audience, Fantômas continued to play through the bullshit. Even the moshing fools were rewarded at the end when Fantomas came out and did the most amazing cover of "Angel of Death" for their encore. I can't even really describe it except that it was as good as the Slayer version, but extremely perverted and bastardized in the most appealing way. If you missed it, I am truely sorry.
There are not enough goats to throw!
A modern-day "super-group" consisting of Mike Patton (vox, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle), King Buzzo (vox, guitar, Melvins), Dave Lombardo (drummer, ex-Slayer) and Trevor Dunn (bass, Mr. Bungle), Fantomas barely sound like the dream group many hoped for and that's not necessarily bad.
After being exposed to the noise-core sounds of Kid 606, the audience seemed starved for some melody and was visibly agitated. Fantomas only created further agitation during their hour-long set. Instead of playing a set of songs, Fantomas played a set of "pages" from their first "book" (read as CD) and each member was set up in a line, not your typical drums in rear of stage, singer out front and axes on either side. Patton faced Lombardo and both were feeding off each other and supplying Buzz and Dunn with most of the "song" cues. The cool thing about Fantomas was their ability to tease the audience. From the beginning, the audience expected to hear conventional songs but instead was subjected to moods, noise and brief outbursts of thrash and blast metal (about 30 seconds worth). For most of the set, Patton did not sing words, he used his voice as an instrument, yelling, screaming, crying and breathing mostly rhythms. His vocalizations combined with Lombardo's intense drumming created a very primal-sounding group of movements. Buzzo and Dunn offered sparse musicality and as the evening progressed, making the set more art than rock 'n' roll. Patton had used a variety of vocal delay, reverbs and effects through two microphones and literally read his cues off a page. Orchestrated noise, an irony in itself, at its finest.
For every 30-second blast, scream, or wail, the energy of the crowd would come alive to a frenzied mosh only to be shut down again. It compared to sexual foreplay: a slow, teasing build until a fast, almost violent climax and then a leveling off to the next movement. At the end of each teaser, screams and hollers such as "Why are you teasing us?!" and "Slayer!" would erupt from the crowd and the evening's comedic moments came around the time Dunn broke a string. This time off gave the audience free reign to yell out criticisms and suggestions. Patton sarcastically proclaimed that "Dave likes it when you all yell out SLAYER!! In fact, I'm gonna count to three and you're all gonna scream 'Slayer!' O.K.?" Of course the audience didn't mind being mocked, I mean that's the dude from Slayer right? Buzz offered some harsh criticism for all the between-the-song banter but Patton diffused it by praying, "Please God let us rock," before resuming the set exactly where it left off. Another comedic moment happened when the band launched into a heavy-duty soul tune, with Patton demonstrating just how amazing a vocalist he is, singing extremely high and telling about unrequited love. It wasn't a complete soul tune though, it had to diverge from the norm and it did with some heavy, heavy riffing for a chorus.
Fantomas' ability to irritate make them a throwback to the anti-music scene happening in the late-'60s and early-'60s and is a pre-cursor to a new morphing of rock 'n' roll Ñ nothing but noise, sometimes seemingly annoying, but brilliantly adventurous nonetheless. If they bug the hell out of you, they're doing their job and if they don't, they're just too safe. Judging by the audience's reaction, there is nowhere safe to hide from Fantomas. Take this as your final warning...
- Review by Paul Gangadeen
