When Faith No More played the Tower back in October 1992, the show came to a memorable end when Mike Patton's evening-long taunting finally led the audience to swarm the stage. Who could forget the image of Patton singing "The Crab Song" while crowd-surfing onstage, as the rest of the band dodged people diving from the tops of the Marshall stacks? Which is to say that even in his most commercial setting, Patton always cultivates some degree of anarchy. A reunion of his most famous band may seem, on the surface, like a cash grab, coming after a decade of countless bizarro projects — collaborations with John Zorn or Rahzel, the Carl Stalling-inspired cut-and-paste metal of Fantomas, the Morricone-rock of Mondo Cane, or even providing the vampire howls for I Am Legend's creatures of the night. But with a voice that can move from gorgeous to harrowing within a single note, Patton never completely divorces himself from pop music, even when he sneers at it — like an abusive relationship neither party can stand to leave. Early shows on the tour reportedly started with a cover of Peaches & Herb's "Reunited," which, like their version of "Easy" way back when, was surely utterly adoring and wholly contemptuous at the same time.
Sat., July 3, 7:30 p.m., $25-$49.50, Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 5201 Parkside Ave., 215-893-1999, manncenter.org.
Sat., July 3, 5 p.m., $10, with Des Ark, A Stick and a Stone, Liza Kate, Kathy Cashel, M.G. Lederman, Pygmylush, Gull, Resin Hits, Little Gold, New Idea Society, Bonnie Schlegel and The Lonely American, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 North Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.
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