Mike Patton’s Peeping Tom is a beats-driven, alt-pop project that fuses hip-hop, rap, funk, lounge and even metal into some sort of fucked-up pop music that sounds familiar, yet different. The collaborations with artists including Massive Attack, Norah Jones, Dan The Automator, Kool Keith, and Rahzel, sometimes sound a little flat on the CD, but thankfully, it all comes together live.
It was great to see Mike Patton actually singing verses and choruses again, combined with the uber-sexy Imani Coppeler. Add a DJ, beatboxer, and Dub Trio providing the guitar, bass and drums, and you’ve got an interestingly capable ensemble.
The catchy-as-fuck Mojo had the Enmore jumping and the super groovy Five Seconds and Don’t Even Trip were definite highlights. A surprise was Get Up Punk from Mike Patton’s X-ecutioners CD. This version was much more rock-based, with Dub Trio providing a chunky bottom end. The tripped out Your Neighbourhood Spaceman and a rocking Caipirinha provided a nice contrast to the stronger hip-hop elements of the show. It can quite reasonably be argued that these elements were a little detrimental to some of the songs (and the show in general), but this was more of a pop show then a rock show.
Different members of the band were given a bit of solo time too, turning the gig into a bit of a variety show. Some of us were disappointed that beatbox maestro Rahzel did not make the tour, but the spunky little Butterscotch performed exceptionally well.
The Fantomas sounding heavy metal blast of Kill The DJ led to an all-to-brief interlude solo by Dub Trio, which was very metal and so damn cool. Those guys have gotta do a solo tour here, and soon. And the hard rock of We’re Not Alone was bloody marvelous, sounding just like Faith No More back in the 90’s.
While many in the crowd were more interested in Mike Patton than the style(s) of music performed, it was a fine pop show. Compared to Mike Patton’s other acts, which are much more controlled and precise, there was more of a relaxed, party mood to the show. And although the performances weren’t always consistent, when it all clicked together, it was just plain fucking magic.
TimmyOfCamelot
said ages ago