How U Feelin' ?

Peeping Tom

4/23/07 @ The Showbox

My mind is still buzzing like a drunken wasp in jar, reeling from the genre-defying musical onslaught that is Peeping Tom.

Mike Patton's latest project is his most poppy and accessible since Mr. Bungle's album California, and that certainly isn't a bad thing. Afterall, it's still Mike Patton, so you know it's a strange take on whatever type of music he's tackling at the moment. The album is fantastic and easily one of my most played of 2006. However, I did have some apprehension how all of this would play out live. There were so many guests on the record, how do you take a beast like that out on the road?

The answer lies in crack team of mostly unknowns from the LA area: a young female beatboxing champion, a poofy haired woman who sings great backing vocals and provides electric violin in unexpected yet appropriate times, a super geeky keyboard player, a drummer that looks like he belongs in the Beastie Boys "Sabotage" video, and legendary DJ/Programmer badass Dan The Automator (!!!!). The last one was a surprise to be sure, but a very welcome one. Everything this man touches is gold.

King Midas workin' at the wheels

But allow me to back up the train for a minute and talk about the opener, Pigeon John. I had never heard of him and his name is fairly goofy, but as far as opening acts go, he was perfect. Blending Reggae and Hip Hop into a very upbeat, pleasant style, he warmed up the crowd, got them to shout plenty of "heys!" and "hos!" and all the other crowd interaction one gets at a hip hop show. Hell, by the end I was even dancing around to it, and some girl walking by took notice and danced with me for minute. That was a strange, funny interaction. But after a minute or two she casually walked away towards the bar. My friend Eric looked and me, I shrugged and laughed. All part of the concert-going experience I suppose. So, all that added up to a fun and pleasant way to begin the evening. I don't think I'll be running out and picking up his albums, but he was a cool opener.

The only man to rhyme "pigeon" & "smidgen"

Patton entered the stage wearing his by now infamous stocking cap/hairnet and sport the sleaze stache as always. He was in a fun, pleasant mood, and really enjoyed playing with crowd, getting them to shout irregular utterances like "arriba! aiiii!" encouraging everyone to give him the finger, and even getting the whole crowd to laugh at the band because according to him, "there's too much positive reinforcement going on! Laugh at us!"

Setlist songs included opening song "It's A Desperate Situation" by Marvin Gaye and every song from the album except "Celebrity Deathmatch." Kool Keith's part was done by Pigeon John making up his own verses, which was ok, but still...it's no Kool Keith! "Five Seconds" was particularly energetic and really had the crowd bouncing, as did "Mojo." I could spend paragraph after paragraph talking about all the cool moments in each song, because each song did have memorable moments. The surprise in the set came when they played the song "Get Up Punk!" from the album General Patton Vs. The X-Ecutioners. That made me really happy and jump around like mad.

The only disappointment in the whole show was that Dan the Automator did not get his own set to show off his skillz. The beatboxing chick, and even the band Dub Trio (who's featured on the album cut "We're Not Alone") had their own mini-set in the middle of Peeping Tom's set, yet no Automator set. So that was a drag, but the show itself was flawless.

In a very un-Patton move, they even came back and did an encore, which was the song "Across 110th Street," which was completely unknown to me. If somebody knows who it's by, please let me in on it, I'm curious.

This night was a beautiful contrast and counterpoint to Saturday's Blonde Redhead performance. While that one was all about building a mood for the viewer to take a journey, this was more of a rock show, with tons of crowd interaction, jumping up and down, and screaming; singing along to every song as loud as I could; getting a thrill just watching a master of his craft work his mojo.

His mojo was certainly working, and I advise all my Gentle Viewers to catch this show if Peeping Tom is in your hood. It will be a night of raucous fun and hairnets.

Here's the Peeping Tom song "Your Neighborhood Spaceman" for your enjoyment.

I'll let Mike Patton himself end this blog: