The last time the California avant-metal band Mr. Bungle appeared on this website, it was not for a good reason. In January, Theo Lengyel, the band’s original keyboardist and saxophonist, was arrested and charged with the murder of his girlfriend. Lengyel parted ways with Mr. Bungle after the release of their 2005 album Disco Volante. When the band reunited in 2020, he didn’t take part. He’s a part of that band’s past, but it’s nice to be able to talk about something else — like Mr. Bungle doing something fun onstage.

Recently, the reunited Mr. Bungle, with Anthrax’s Scott Ian on board as rhythm guitarist, have been touring behind their re-recorded version of their 1986 demo The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny. The band played two shows in Japan last month, and they’re about to launch a short Australian tour before further tours in North America and Europe. Last night, they stopped in Auckland, New Zealand. As Revolver reports, the band’s set was full of covers, mostly of punk and metal classics. They did songs by Corrosion Of Conformity, Slayer, 7 Seconds, the Crumbsuckers, and Sepultura, as well as Spandau Ballet’s new wave classic “True.” As the first song of their encores, they also played the late Olivia Newton John’s Grease ballad “Hopelessly Devoted To You.”

Mike Patton loves a quasi-ironic cover, but this was Mr. Bungle’s first time doing “Hopelessly Devoted To You.” That song wasn’t part of the original Grease stage show. Instead, Olivia Newton John’s regular collaborator John Farrar wrote it for her to perform in the movie, and it became a big pop, country, and adult contemporary hit. In recent years, people like Harry Styles and the Chicks have covered that song, but those bands don’t have much in common with Mr. Bungle. Still, Bungle gave the song a relatively straight reading, and Patton, who currently has a strange braid situation happening, really sang it. Below, watch fan footage of Mr. Bungle’s cover and the “Hopelessly Devoted” scene from the Grease movie.

Mr. Bungle also apparently hung out with Jason Momoa while they were in Auckland. Their Australian tour starts Wednesday at Melbourne’s Festival Hall.