TOMAHAWK (Live)

at Rockefeller Music Hall, Oslo, Norway, September 1, 2013

Photo by Kristian Singh-Nergård

All photos by Kristian Singh-Nergård

Tomahawk is the experimental Alternative Metal/Rock supergroup headed by Mike Patton (Fantômas, Peeping Tom, ex-Mr. Bungle, Faith No More). With their fourth album, Oddfellows, just released after a lengthy hiatus, it was time to take their show to Europe. In addition to vocalist/keyboardist Patton, the band consists of guitarist Duane Denison (Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, The Jesus Lizard), drummer John Stanier (ex-Helmet), and making his debut for Tomahawk bass player Trevor Dunn (ex-Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, John Zorn, MadLove, trio-convulsant).

Photo by Kristian Singh-Nergård

The band opened with what’s arguably their most well-known song, “God Hates A Coward”, from their 2001 self-titled album. The aggression and energy of the song really set the standard for the rest of the set. “Mayday,” off their 2003 release Mit Gas, followed before they dove into the title track from their new release.

Patton is often found behind his keyboard and effect board, but on the most energetic parts he bounces back and forth on the stage. He isn’t the most talkative front man either — he spoke to the crowd only three or four times during the show, but he really doesn’t need to. He’s Mike Patton and the crowd knows what to expect as he’s captivating the crowd through the music instead of words.

The crowd got treated to all the best songs from the debut album, like “POP 1” and “Flashback” in addition to the already mentioned show opener. The show mostly consisted of songs off their first and last album, though they did find some room for “Totem,” the only song played off their more obscure 2007 release Anonymous.

Photo by Kristian Singh-Nergård

For the encore Tomahawk played the single “Stone Letter” off their new release as well as a Bad Brains cover song. Patton explained afterwards that they didn’t want the crowd to leave with that speedy song as their last impression of the band, so somewhat surprisingly they ended with a Country song. This seemed to amuse most of the crowd, which most likely was the intention as well.

Tomahawk is back, stronger than ever. If you have the chance to go see them this is highly recommended.

Setlist

God Hates A Coward / Mayday / Oddfellows / POP 1 / Rotgut / Birdsong / Rape This Day / I.O.U. / Capt. Midnight / Baby Let’s Play ____ / Choke Neck / Flashback / Totem / Point and Click
Encore: Stone Letter / How Low Can A Punk Get (Bad Brains cover) / Just One More (George Jones cover)

Author

  • Kristian Singh-Nergård

    Kristian is one of the partners at Metal Express Radio. He is Metal Express Radio's Marketing and Communications Manager, and on occasions also reviewer and photographer. Based out of Oslo, Norway, Kristian is a bass player and owner of the independent record label Pug-Nose Records. He has been a proud member of the Metal Express Radio crew since 2006.

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