On paper, it seems like a match made in heaven. What two entities
could have a more harmonious union than avant-metal Italians Zu and
pillar of modern experimentalism Mike Patton? But as rules are meant to
be broken, some marriages are meant to end bitterly and violently.
First off, Thursday’s show at the Great American Music Hall was
astoundingly intimate for any Patton appearance as the venue seemed
filled to just a quarter of capacity. This, combined with no live
opener, made it already a peculiar night. However, the real weirdness
was about to come from the performance itself.
Yes, yes. We all know that Patton makes weird music. Scratch that,
he lives, breathes and is it. Everyone who follows his
twenty-year-long career knows that his cacophony is not only derived
from individual projects like the dark and chaotic Fantômas, but
also from the fact that he has a different band for each mood, phase,
or day of the week. Patton is a chameleon who still manages to maintain
a succinct point of view in music. In short, you are in for a weird
show if Patton is involved. However, the strangest aspect of Patton and
Zu’s collaboration was that it just didn’t seem to meld.
Zu’s horn-heavy brand of jungle metal would normally seem like the
perfect backdrop to Patton’s arsenal of vocal-bending gadgets. However,
after two minutes, it all seems to remind you of an elephant getting
served by an evil robot in a dance-off. That is the only way to make
sense of such a harsh, clashing pile of sound. If you thought Mr.
Bungle’s Disco Volante was inaccessible, this was an
impenetrable fortress. Patton’s vocals seemed to be fighting for space,
leaving the whole performance without a focal point.
A nicer representation of Patton’s added trimmings to Zu are most
definitely heard on the group’s latest release, Carboniferous.
There, Patton hugs the background beautifully, allowing the
instrumental mania to take center stage while his vocals add small but
strong accents to the overall sound.
However, it’s understood that you can’t really do that live. Perhaps
Patton and Zu executed the live collaboration the only way possible, by
letting Patton do what he does best. If this was their biggest folly,
it’s certainly forgivable. Either way, the audience was treated to an
interesting band led by the most interesting of men, which is not
entirely a loss.
