Two Giants of the music scene, Serj Tankian and Fantomas

Band: Serj Tankian and Fantomas
Venue: Palace Theatre
Date: 25th January 2009
Reviewed By: Espylyn

I had balcony views in anticipation for some great music. I love the Fantomas 'Directers Cut' cd , so when I heard Fantomas were going to play this cd live, I was there with bells on. Mike Patton (musical genius) sported a cricket outfit for tonights show which did include leg pads! Indeed Mike got away with it, as did guitarist Buzz Osborne (The Melvins) and bassist Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle). Drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer) was a treat tonight and he worked that kit and was ripping it to shreds.
Mike's haunting vocals fill the room tonight on many a song, a highlight being Rosemary's Baby, then Mike fills the room with noise and various tricks and treats from his keys and mixer. Buzz powers through the set and takes Trevor with him. Other songs include The Godfather and The Omen and all punters were taken on a mythological journey through the divide that is Fantomas.
For your information - Fantomas comes from a fictional arch villian and master criminal book by french Marcel Allian and Pierre Souvestre. I would say many punters were here just to see Fantomas and the crowd ached for more tunes. But alas, Mike and co weren't coming back, it was time for Serj Tankian (singer System of a Down).

Each time I think of Serj I imagine him to be part of a circus and I can hear him saying 'roll up, roll up' to the crowds. He just has that appeal about him. The band arrives, in top hats and straight into The Unthinking Majority which sent the crowd into a frenzy. The rest of the band were in red suits but the top hats came off after only a short time. We all sang Happy Birthday to Mike Patton at one point and engulfed more songs from Serj. Empty Walls was a big hit. The show took us on a rock and roll adventure hightlighted with Serj's front man adventure and circus hilarity. Only downer was ending on a cover of David Bowie's Ground Control to Major Tom - Sure it sounded great, but I wasn't impressed with it being the last song. Serj's cd called Elect the Dead is awesome, go buy it!