I knew this wouldn’t be a typical concert. When you have a night involving Mike Patton – a vocal maverick with a curriculum vitae including Mr. Bungle and Faith No More – in a buttoned-up scenario, it's best to expect the unexpected.

The evening – which took place Tuesday, November 26 – wouldn’t have come about without AVTT/PTTN, the new album Patton did with familial folk-rocking duo The Avett Brothers. Patton, who has slowed way down from the prolific, project-switching mania he's known for, teamed up with Scott and Seth Avett for something new. For Patton fanatics like me, that’s a tall order – what hasn’t he done?

Bits and pieces of AVTT/PTTN remind me of Corpse Flower, Patton’s 2019 record with Jean-Claude Vannier, and mellower moments of Tomahawk, led by Patton and Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard). The Avett Brothers are a greater unknown for me, but they’re a formidable name in the space occupied by such acts as Iron & Wine – that much I knew. Booming embellishments decorate the background of multiple songs, including the briefest, “Disappearing”. The closing track, “Received”, tries its best (as several cuts do) to approximate the ring of sunset glow on the album cover. Contrived or creative? Time to investigate.

The event, held at the Grammy Museum's NYC branch, sold out. Even if the album, at its weakest, sinks to the levels of stale chips and past-sell-by-date salsa – with lyrics like "Down in the valley, up in the air/In San Francisco, everywhere" – people are excited. Sadly, a sickness prevented the original plan: comedic madman Eric André was set to host the event, but is sitting out.

I enter a tiny venue, more suited to PowerPoints than performances. Before I know it, things get going.

A key point of discussion concerns the remote nature of the collaboration. The brothers hail from North Carolina, while Patton is a native of NorCal. At one point, Patton pointed out (to laughter) that he thought the pair still lived together as file-sharing was underway. Scott and Patton kicked off ideas, before sending them off to Seth for some embellishment. Not everything discussed was musical; for example, one tale told centered around trying a drink in North Carolina called Witch Doctor, a mixture of fountain sodas and pickles. "Fascinatingly disgusting," Patton dubbed the concoction.

If I had to guess, more people were there for Patton than the brothers Avett. Fans whooped when the versatile frontman mentioned his spastic Fantômas endeavor, and a highlight involved recounting the origins of Faith No More's Bee Gees cover, "I Started a Joke". (It's too inappropriate to share here.)

A sense of risk, and newness, hung in the air, for lack of better descriptors; Seth described the gig as "an experiment that's happening in public." Apart from a performance on The Tonight Show the previous evening, this was the live debut of AVTT/PTTN. After around 45 minutes of chat, plus a light intermission, it was time for the tunes.

Righteous rocker "Heaven’s Breath" followed album opener "Dark Night of My Soul". "Our maiden voyage for that song," Seth remarked; he boasts a high singing voice that sails over Scott’s and Patton's.

The band admits they only know four songs in between "Eternal Love" and the last number, "Received". Following five minutes of receiving, I walked out into the drizzly New York night, a part of me wishing that a bonfire had been erected for the event. Even if AVTT/PTTN doesn't always blow me away, there's something about a venue with no more than a few hundred people around you that brings out the most in music.