Mr. Bungle - Stage Shows

Stage Shows

Mr. Bungle were known for their characteristically unconventional stage shows, where the band members would dress up in costumes and masks. In the early stages of their career they would often wear a uniform of mechanic's jumpsuits along with masks such as Madonna, Richard Nixon, Darth Vader, an executioner's hood or plastic clown or gimp masks. Bassist Trevor Dunn explained that initially the reason for the dressing up was to assure anonymity. The shows later in their career for the California tours, while still involving various members in costumes, were largely devoid of the masks and outfits due to the increased demands of the music. Mike Patton explained, "This stuff is much harder to play, I was trying to do piano lines and I'm completely fumbling them because the leather bondage mask is stretching my face so tight that my eyes weren't lining up with the eye holes." Often the theme was related to California, with palm tree props and the band members wearing beach party outfits, including Hawaiian shirts and khaki pants. Occasionally, the band would simply appear in black suits with white dress shirts or dress up in chef costumes, cowboy suits or as the Village People.

Throughout their career Mr. Bungle also performed numerous covers in their live shows, ranging from tiny snippets to whole songs. The covers were by a wide variety of artists and genres encompassing movie scores by Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini and John Williams, pop songs by Elton John and Jennifer Lopez, hip hop by Public Enemy and Ol' Dirty Bastard to punk and metal songs by Dead Kennedys, Metallica and Slayer. They frequently covered Billy Squier's "The Stroke".