stubbadub

As it appears in the latest Drum (10th Feb issue):

“Fantomas nearly upstaged the main act with their renditions of ’70′s and ’80′s classic and cult movie theme songs, whilst dressed in white cricket uniforms, zinc smeared on cheeks. With a tight energy that took years of touring to hone, the band were amazingly precise on every note, especially drummer Dale Crover, whilst still giving frontman Mike Patton a chance to add his falsetto flairs and convulsing body movements to songs Der Golem and Cape Fear. They continued to play through through The Director’s Cut in random order, leaving the audience satisfied to the point where the main act could have been forgotten entirely.”

The rest is about Serj Tankian and his “band”. I’m not going to bother transcribing that as their show was less than average.

drummedia.com.au

Might want to turn yr sound down for this one…..

cape fear:

mike playin cricket:

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Serj and Fantomas, The Tivoli, Brisbane @ Fasterlouder

“First up, as promised, Fantomas delivered the whole kit and caboodle, the full length, original version with no editing, director’s cut of their album The Director’s Cut. The boys come on stage donned in white cricketers get-up. I don’t know why. Front man, Mike Patton, complete with white glove mitts comes on stage and promptly leaps into a perfectly executed theme to The Godfather.

Patton moves with the music, acting as conductor to the band, changing the tempo, melody and even style of the song with just a twinkle of the eye or an expert swish of his arms. With drummer Dave Lombardo (of Slayer fame) missing from the band tonight, you can tell that Patton is more than ever keeping it together. And he does it well. He reveals his excitement when a pace change goes to plan, and skillfully hides a mishap by ad-libbing.

Besides this, Fantomas deliver an almost flawless set. The Serj Tankian fans are in awe, and everyone wants more. A crowd favourite is the haunting song, Rosemary’s Baby, adapted from the film’s theme song. Patton’s voice is truly amazing. In this song, he makes the simple words ‘la la la la’ sound deadly and then innocent and then creepy and then vacant. His screamo voice is also nothing to contend with. Using his whole body, he thrusts the words forward into his highly movable microphone, like he’s possessed and needs to get it out. It is a great sight to see such a musician in action.

The boys finish with the second song on the album, Der Golem, a tune from the 1920s German silent horror film. The crowd is astounded, and the die-hard fans are relieved that this song wasn’t glazed over. One guy, who obviously knows the album from back to front, says to his friend, “I was worried for a moment. I thought they’d forgotten this one, but no, they just pulled it out right at the end’. What a relief.”

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http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,24949621-5006024,00.html

“And, over on the Essential Stage as the sun goes down, there’s Fantomas leader Mike Patton, a man who follows no rules (career, musical or otherwise) but his own.

And what is Mike Patton‘s rule for the Big Day Out?

Concentrate, or you might end up with a can of fly spray directed at your ear.

“It doesn’t affect anything except your attitude,” says the amiably grumpy Patton about playing Fantomas’ album of film music, The Director’s Cut, in full in a festival setting.

If it wasn’t for the deliciously evil cackle he throws in, the guy could give Neil Young a shake in the curmudgeon stakes.

“I’m in a little bit more of a bad mood when I play these things,” he says, looking around the backstage area of the first BDO of the season in Auckland.

“It’s just not my scene. I’m not saying it’s worthless, but it’s less about music than a lot of other things.

“Let’s be honest, what we’re about to go and do is not music to pick up boys or girls on, or to get drunk with. It’s music you’ve gotta f—ing pay attention to, and if you don’t, it’s like having a mosquito in your ear for 45 minutes.

“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of people going ‘Whaaat?’ and running for the exits. But that makes you wanna do it even more.”

He laughs the evil laugh again. “

http://rapidshare.com/files/154692984/02_bjork_-_where_is_the_line__fantomas_mix_-tronik.mp3.html

photo credit: Mac(3)

Don’t forget to grab your tickets!

So Ipecac’s official word on the Fantomas Australian tour early next year so far is as follows:

“Fantômas set to bring “The Director’s Cut” to Australia!
G’day Fantômas Fans,

You read right, the mighty Fantômas are bringing “The Director’s Cut” down under in January 2009.
They’re opening for their good friend Serj Tankian! Here are the dates:

Jan 21, 2009: Brisbane, QLD
Jan 24, 2009: Sydney, NSW
Jan 25, 2009: Melbourne, VIC

*We’ll post the venues when we get them, but we wanted to let you all know about these shows.”

UPDATE: word is venues are as follows:

21 Jan The Tivoli QLD
24 Jan Enmore Theatre NSW
25 Jan The Palace Theatre VIC

photo credit: gregoryperez

So (unfortunately) it looks like Fantomas will be joining the 2009 Australian Big Day Out tour which is already sold out and has a myriad of shithouse bands.

Fortunately they will also be supporting Serj Tankian’s solo Australian tour!

Officially Trevor has both the BDO and Serj dates listed on his myspace page but ipecac have only announced the Serj Support dates so far.

The Dates:

Fantomas: Big Day Out Festival

16 Jan 2009, 8:00PM, Aukland, NZ
18 Jan 2009, 8:00PM, Gold Coast, Aus
23 Jan 2009, 8:00PM, Sydney, Aus
26 Jan 2009, 8:00PM, Melbourne, Aus
30 Jan 2009, 8:00PM, Adelaide, Aus (Msg From Trev: it’s my birthday. It’s Adelaide. Somebody please get me baked.)
01 Feb 2009, 8:00PM, Perth, Aus

Fantomas opening for Serj Tankian

21 Jan 2009, 8:00PM – TBA, Brisbane, Aus
24 Jan 2009, 8:00PM – TBA, Sydney, Aus
25 Jan 2009, 8:00PM – TBA, Melbourne, Aus

“Just a reminder, there are still some tickets left for the ATP festival in England curated by Patton and the Melvins, come on, come camping with us!!!!
Also tickets left for the London Director’s Cut show on Dec 8th and the New Years show in San Francisco. These shows WILL sell out. Grab em now!!!!”

New Years Eve
Great American Music Hall
$45
counting it down with Ipecac Recordings
Fantômas (plays the Director’s Cut)
Tipsy
Zach Hill

tickets available SOON
only US tour date for Fantômas, only performance of The Director’s Cut in US

Rock a Rolla recently revealed that Fantomas are currently working on their next album with a tentative release date of June next year, while the Mondo Cane album is looking at coming out March next year. All dates to be taken with a grain of salt obviously but good news about the new Fantomas……bring on some tours. Full news at rock-a-rolla.

photo credit: kokuziu