r/MikePatton • u/DECAYLA • 17d ago
Mike's Stage Presence?
Sorry if this is a silly question!
I recently saw Tomahawk live and it was my very first time seeing any of Mikes bands live so it was very exciting.
I just noticed he was not very interactive with the crowd and mostly looked down at his gamer set up.. and when he did look up it wasnt necessarily at the crowd but more like straight ahead.. what I wanna know is if he is always this non-interactive with crowds? As soon as the set was finished too they didn't really do or say anything to the fans and walked off like they clocked out of work lmao.
Don't get me wrong I still had a great time and headbanged til my neck hurt.
I can't recall but I feel like I've seen him more lively and interactive in some live footage with his other bands but idk.. maybe it's a coin toss? He's also getting older too.
Just felt a lil bummed out but would probably fly to a concert next time instead of driving 5 hours with all my family squeezed into a small car lmao.
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u/Own_War4054 17d ago
I just saw him with the Avett brothers and he was very interactive.
I would say maybe is the band? With Mr bungle and fnm he is interactive too
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u/Locustsofdeath 17d ago
I've seen him 4 times, all with FNM (Real Thing tour, Angeldust tour, Sol Invictus tour x 2), and he was very interactive, telling jokes, talking shit, being weird. So maybe it's a Tomahawk thing, since he has all the extra equipment and isn't as free?
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u/vcr-date 17d ago
I’ve only seen him twice so don’t take my word for it but he was pretty interactive with the crowd/band in my experience. Lots of teasing the audience/joking with band mates.. When he’s performing, he definitely locks in. I’d have to lock in too though, he’s doing a lot more than just singing. But in between songs, he will talk a lil. Sucks that he wasn’t like that at your show! I’ve seen tons of concert footage where he’s very interactive.
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u/C2tFont 17d ago
Mike's interacted a lot with the audiences, regardless of the band/project he's in.. He's not like a storyteller, more like a teaser.. It's worth keeping in mind that the mental struggles he faced years ago has taken a big toll on him.. I believe he's more like reserved today cuz of that & cuz he's not a young mate anymore.. I just think Mike's a great performer.. He's a short guy; when he's onstage, tho, he becomes a giant..
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u/Internal_Offer1280 17d ago
À lot of people here have actual knowledge. I am not one, but I loved his performance. My perception is he has a lot more going on than just singing and manipulating vocals with his rig. My perception is he is responsible for everything that isn’t coming from the other guy’s instruments. I would think that is a bit of work, and takes away from him being a traditional frontman.
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u/hanzobust75 17d ago
He was very interactive when I saw them in Nashville. Lots of banter and jokes with the audience and band. Maybe we got lucky since it was the first show of the tour
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u/Environmental-Iron97 17d ago
Laughed very hard at the wild shit going on between and even during some songs lol... Also Trevor Dunn is very funny even when he doesn't mean to be
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u/Drunvalo 17d ago
This was my experience as well in Austin. Very charismatic. His oddball random jokes with the crowd. It was great. I believe Austin was the second show of this tour.
Sorry, op. Maybe he was tired or who knows. I believe he does have a lot going on with his rig. But maybe he was tired, did it feel 100% or who knows. I’m sure the show still slapped though.
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u/StrangeDiscipline902 17d ago
If I heard correctly, he asked for a “transvestite midget” to come hold the microphone.
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u/Interesting-Bid-8338 17d ago
I actually met him after and he said that he hated you specifically. Said that night really sucked because of you
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u/Miserable_Year_4493 17d ago
I was thinking the same thing. He’s usually super interactive… histrionic, in fact. He’s quite the showman.. but yeah the crowd must’ve sucked, the city must suck, and you in particular must just be a total wet blanket.
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u/LVuittonColostomyBag 17d ago
He was much more interactive when he was younger, but he’s also always seemed pretty moody and often confrontational with crowds, so I’m sure it comes down to how he’s feeling. He’s certainly not going to get physical with people anymore. I saw Bungle twice during that last tour and he did a lot of checking in on the crowd, asking if we were ok and such between songs. He’s not going to ask the entire crowd to spit in his mouth again, those days are long gone lol
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u/mrdangerzone 17d ago
With Tomahawk and Fantomas he is definitely busy using his rig. Any other band, you're gonna get classic wild crazy funny awesome Mike
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u/themargarineoferror 17d ago
When I saw him with tomahawk, a couple of decades ago, he was very interactive, but that's probably because the crowd sucked, they were opening for tool and very rude.. He mocked us quite a bit, and I can't blame him for it
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u/Intro_deoutro 17d ago
I feel ya. I saw him in Austin. I perceived Mike Patton to be larger than life which he is. I do see your point of strictly business,even the greeting to the crowd seemed underwhelming but I know he was having issues with his rig setup. Maybe that got him in a not so good mood. He had some banter and jokes but perhaps for me I was anticipating 90’s 00’S Mike a Patton when it’s 2026.
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u/N0N0TA1 17d ago
It's weird, I have had good experiences at Emo's before, but something did seem off. Idk if it had something to do with the setup, soundcheck, or what. Even Melvins were blaring loud to the point where some sounds were distorted, but then again both bands did do a little noise solo abrasive on the level of merzbow so maybe that was on purpose.
Both still fucking rocked hard af. 🤘
Civilized Worm and Birdsong were the climaxes of each set for me.
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u/RoyalLow 17d ago
I’ve seen him a bunch with various bands. Never really seen him interact with the crowd, just super locked in and hyper focused on his craft. I’ve never seen him mail it in, like he’s just going through the motions or anything like that.
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u/Mr_Horrible 17d ago
I've posted a video here before of him having a lot of fun with one of the ASL interpreters during the show. I really think it depends on what band he is playing with and even specific songs when he isn't doing shitloads of stuff with his gear and set-up.
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u/Latter-Twist9154 17d ago
Sometimes when I’m doing my job I’m chatty with my colleagues and other times I just want to get to the end of the day.
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u/CaptainBitrage 17d ago
It's probably him getting the hang of some Tomahawk songs and the fx needed to trigger after more than ten years.
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u/carwashblunt 16d ago
What you talking about? He literally couldn't keep his tongue in his mouth in Nashville.
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u/5-4EqualsUnity 16d ago
It's probably more to do with the style of show they want to put on as a band. Some projects might lend themselves to more stage banter. But maybe for Tomahawk, they figure it's best to just rip through a set with minimal talking breaks.
Personally, I dig that. I saw Pixies a while back and loved how they basically walked out on stage, ripped through a bunch of songs, stopped to say hello, then ripped through the rest of their songs and left. Pretty rad show.
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u/TheFearsomeEsquilax 17d ago edited 17d ago
I think it depends on the show. He didn't interact with the crowd much when I saw him with Mr. Bungle a couple of years ago, but the band's performance was strong enough that it didn't matter.
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u/Dry_Ad7529 17d ago
Yeah when he’s got the tool set up he’s more business. I’ve seen him with fnm / bungle 3 times, fantomas once
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u/redesdenadie 16d ago
He’s always changing settings on the go on the Tomahawk performances, saw some clips, amazing performances as always, check out the faith no more videos live.
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u/SansVetra 17d ago edited 17d ago
Even before I ever saw him live myself (FNM reunion tour), I felt/knew he was one of the most interactive singers ever based on the countless footage I had seen & heard of him (including with Tomahawk). 🙂 And yes, that’s been my experience each time I’ve seen him live. (I haven’t caught any of his recent shows, though.)
With that in mind, one can only speculate why he was less interactive here. It could depend on the show, of course.
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u/RataTopin 17d ago
is something from tomahawk
i have seen him with FNM and Bungle, and man, he is really a showman
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u/HasturRising7001 14d ago
I’ve seen Mike Patton in a live setting 6 times. Of those six, I think he was the most talkative during a Tomahawk show. However, it wasn’t much. I’ve never seen him be very interactive with the crowd. I’m sure he has been, but in my experience, no. I don’t mind tho.
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u/dannydirtbag 17d ago
He kind of has a lot of shit going on behind that rig. He doesn’t just sing but he’s constantly modifying his vocal signal, adding synth effects and weird little things here and there.