Puscifer @ The Palais, Melbourne (28/02/2013)
Entering the Palais Theatre for Puscifer’s sidewave show, I expected to be swallowed by a sea of Tool hoodies and A Perfect Circle band tees, all of them guzzling beer and waiting not-so-patiently for Puscifer to take the stage.
I was instead met by a somewhat thin crowd and an usher who gruffly asserted that “there will be no support act, no intermission, no photography, and no alcohol outside the bar area!” I was sure she was as old if not older than the Palais itself, but her point about no support act and NO NO NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY was indeed corroborated by posters on every available wall. Puscifer will commence at 8pm sharp, they read.
I wondered what the wacky, enigmatic Maynard James Keenan had in store for us if not for a hand-picked support act lucky enough to be included in this year’s impressive Soundwave tour.
Rather than witnessing such a band, when the lights dimmed at 8pm sharp the audience was treated to a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary showcasing the live tour of fictitious trailer-trash husband-and-wife duet, The Burger Barns (starring Keenan as Billy D Burger). Entertaining though it was in patches, this felt more like an audition reel, highlighting Keenan’s other creative talent, character acting.
This was followed by another AV clip depicting Keenan as a US army general, flanked by the flag, re-asserting semi-comically that there would be no photography permitted, which was followed by yet another clip; a mock flight safety video for ‘Vagina Airlines’, complete with airline jingle, which would be a recurring motif throughout the show. After what felt like half an hour of Tropfest, out walked the ‘cabin crew’ to take their place on stage.
The multi-talented, multi-affiliated members of Puscifer were decked out as pilots and flight attendants – in keeping with the Vagina Airlines theme - with Keenan himself cutting a comical figure in a hat, wig, glasses, moustache, and ill-fitting pants.
Jeff Friedl kicked off proceedings with a thumping drum beat reverberating across the room, and was gradually joined by guitarist Mat Mitchell, keys player Josh Eustis, and bass extraordinaire Matt McJunkins. The opening track served as a jam session of sorts, before Keenan and co-vocalist Carina Round took the mic podiums situated at the back of stage behind close-up camera screens and rolled into the song Tiny Monsters. His voice cut through the ethereal sounds swarming around him and I suddenly remembered this oddly-dressed singer was a rock god with a cult following.
With minimal talking between songs, volume limits were tested with a string of hits including Telling Ghosts, Momma Sed, Dozo, and the mesmerizing Horizons, before the lead single from 2011’s Conditions of My Parole, Man Overboard, provided a climax, with Keenan chanting the chorus line ‘All hands on, all hands on deck’ while McJunkins and Friedl tried their very best to destroy their instruments, rhythmically of course.
New tracks Breathe and Dear Brother, from 2013 EP Donkey Punch the Night were well received and built to an impressive crescendo heavily delivered by an interpretation of Accept’s Balls to the Wall. There was no sight of the band’s other vocally ambitious cover, Bohemian Rhapsody, but the melodically rich Green Valley was sufficient to remind the audience of the harmonic quality of both Keenan and Rounds, as well as the intimacy of the band’s members, so tightly navigating what is a minefield of different time signatures and layered sounds.
The façade of being mid-flight the whole show (non-participating members of A Perfect Circle spent the entire show on stage sitting in makeshift aeroplane seats being tended to by the ‘staff’) faded as the band helped themselves to the drinks cart and Keenan called all members to the front for a casual introduction/thankyou, sharing some of the band philosophy and giving the audience a brief glimpse into the person behind the constant character/performer.
The band then closed with The Humbling River, a beautiful song performed accordingly, which went some way to making up for the bombardment of Vagina Airlines peanut packets that Rounds and co incessantly tossed at the crowd. The brilliance of the band’s members aside, a few less airbourne peanuts would have been have been nice.
Xavier O’Malley
I was instead met by a somewhat thin crowd and an usher who gruffly asserted that “there will be no support act, no intermission, no photography, and no alcohol outside the bar area!” I was sure she was as old if not older than the Palais itself, but her point about no support act and NO NO NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY was indeed corroborated by posters on every available wall. Puscifer will commence at 8pm sharp, they read.
I wondered what the wacky, enigmatic Maynard James Keenan had in store for us if not for a hand-picked support act lucky enough to be included in this year’s impressive Soundwave tour.
Rather than witnessing such a band, when the lights dimmed at 8pm sharp the audience was treated to a fly-on-the-wall mockumentary showcasing the live tour of fictitious trailer-trash husband-and-wife duet, The Burger Barns (starring Keenan as Billy D Burger). Entertaining though it was in patches, this felt more like an audition reel, highlighting Keenan’s other creative talent, character acting.
This was followed by another AV clip depicting Keenan as a US army general, flanked by the flag, re-asserting semi-comically that there would be no photography permitted, which was followed by yet another clip; a mock flight safety video for ‘Vagina Airlines’, complete with airline jingle, which would be a recurring motif throughout the show. After what felt like half an hour of Tropfest, out walked the ‘cabin crew’ to take their place on stage.
The multi-talented, multi-affiliated members of Puscifer were decked out as pilots and flight attendants – in keeping with the Vagina Airlines theme - with Keenan himself cutting a comical figure in a hat, wig, glasses, moustache, and ill-fitting pants.
Jeff Friedl kicked off proceedings with a thumping drum beat reverberating across the room, and was gradually joined by guitarist Mat Mitchell, keys player Josh Eustis, and bass extraordinaire Matt McJunkins. The opening track served as a jam session of sorts, before Keenan and co-vocalist Carina Round took the mic podiums situated at the back of stage behind close-up camera screens and rolled into the song Tiny Monsters. His voice cut through the ethereal sounds swarming around him and I suddenly remembered this oddly-dressed singer was a rock god with a cult following.
With minimal talking between songs, volume limits were tested with a string of hits including Telling Ghosts, Momma Sed, Dozo, and the mesmerizing Horizons, before the lead single from 2011’s Conditions of My Parole, Man Overboard, provided a climax, with Keenan chanting the chorus line ‘All hands on, all hands on deck’ while McJunkins and Friedl tried their very best to destroy their instruments, rhythmically of course.
New tracks Breathe and Dear Brother, from 2013 EP Donkey Punch the Night were well received and built to an impressive crescendo heavily delivered by an interpretation of Accept’s Balls to the Wall. There was no sight of the band’s other vocally ambitious cover, Bohemian Rhapsody, but the melodically rich Green Valley was sufficient to remind the audience of the harmonic quality of both Keenan and Rounds, as well as the intimacy of the band’s members, so tightly navigating what is a minefield of different time signatures and layered sounds.
The façade of being mid-flight the whole show (non-participating members of A Perfect Circle spent the entire show on stage sitting in makeshift aeroplane seats being tended to by the ‘staff’) faded as the band helped themselves to the drinks cart and Keenan called all members to the front for a casual introduction/thankyou, sharing some of the band philosophy and giving the audience a brief glimpse into the person behind the constant character/performer.
The band then closed with The Humbling River, a beautiful song performed accordingly, which went some way to making up for the bombardment of Vagina Airlines peanut packets that Rounds and co incessantly tossed at the crowd. The brilliance of the band’s members aside, a few less airbourne peanuts would have been have been nice.
Xavier O’Malley