Mr. Bungle Revived to Play 1986 Demo Songs for First Time in Over 30 Years

This is a nice surprise. Mr. Bungle, one of Mike Patton's many projects, will be getting back together for a handful of dates next year. What's better is that they'll be revisiting the music that started it all for them, the 1986 demo, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny.

Patton and fellow original Mr. Bungle members Trevor Dunn and Trey Spruance will rock the music, with guest help from Patton's Dead Cross collaborator Dave Lombardo on drums and Anthrax's Scott Ian sitting in as well.

The group has booked a trio of performances, revisiting the set. They'll play Feb. 7 at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, Feb. 8 at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and Feb. 10 at New York's Brooklyn Steel. This will mark the first time in over 30 years that the music from The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny has been performed live.

In fact, it's also been quite a while since Mr. Bungle performed live as a band, as they are closing in on 20 years since their last performance.

Mike Patton recalls, “I remember writing riffs for this cassette in my parent’s garage, with no heat, so I recorded in a sleeping bag for analog warmth, playing a one-stringed acoustic guitar that was piped into a ghetto blaster. Thank god I had Trevor and Trey to help decipher my rotten riffs into something intelligible!"

“Ever since Trevor hatched The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny v.2 idea a few years back, Patton, Lombardo, he and I had each been incubating some idea of that egg," says Spruance. "Lombardo called me one day and asked me to make some guitar demos so he could learn the songs. He had this generous idea to surprise the other guys with being totally ready to go with the tunes. It just so happened that I was in Eureka at the time. So, I found myself re-visiting all of those riffs in the same goddamned town and in the same goddamned house where I recorded all the original guitars on that demo 33 years earlier. There was something about actually physically working out the mania of those riffs again at DAVE LOMBARDO'S request, in that environment -- it just split my head open. It wasn't long before the train of destiny had picked up too much speed for any of us to jump off.”

Dunn adds, “When we recorded that demo, we were 16 and 17 years old and we were absolutely serious about the music. At the time, we were living the deluge of '80s metal and absorbing every riff and every drum fill from every known band from Denmark to San Francisco. The recording and playing were amateurish (save for Trey's video-game-solos) but the schooled composition and spirit were solid. I always felt like this music held its own and deserved to be presented in a clearer and more defined package even if it meant being 33 years later.”

As for the special guests, Lombardo says, “I don’t know what was in the water in Eureka California, but it certainly wasn’t clean. This is going to be a ridiculously, insane band to play with and I am honored to have been asked to join the wrath.”

Ian adds, “When Mike hit me up about this my brain thought he was asking me if I wanted to come to a show, him knowing I am a HUGE Bungle fan. When I realized he actually meant for me to play guitar with them it broke my brain, I was a giggly drooling mess. Somehow I pecked out Y E S on my keyboard and holy crap I’m playing in Mr. Bungle. Seriously, it’s an honor and a privilege to get to play with my favorite ‘Mr.’ band of all time.”

During their active period, the band released three full length albums and four demos, with 1986's The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny being their first demo, and 1999's California being their last full-length album.

Be prepared to jump on these tickets because the band is stating that no additional dates will be added. Tickets go on sale this Friday (Aug. 16) at 10AM local time.

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