Saw Puscifer at The Moore theater last night. Best concert I’ve ever seen. Bar none. And I’ve seen a hell of a lot of concerts in the last 20 odd years. Most blur together. This one was exceptional.
For one thing, I’ve always thought The Moore was the perfect sized venue. It holds about 1400 people, so not too big, and the acoustics are excellent. Then, there is the simple fact that Maynard is awesome. Yes, he inspires awe. I’ve been a fan since the first Tool video hit MTV in the early 90s. I was out of the loop and learned about A Perfect Circle after it was already over, but love all the music he did there too. Now there is Puscifer. His best work yet. This man is a brilliant songwriter and musician, imo. His music contains an emotional range that few are able to clearly express. And he doesn’t take himself too seriously. There is plenty of humor in there too. I’ve heard him compared to Trent Reznor, and I can see why, but I would put Maynard one notch above Trent simply because of the humor. Trent doesn’t have that.
Anyway, back to the show. The sound was exquisite by “live show” standards. You can hear it in the live tracks on the new EP that was just release a couple weeks ago (“C” is for… (Please Insert Sophomoric reference to Genitalia here)). And there is a cleverness to the fact there are already at least 3 version of every song out there. For every other concert I’ve been to, there is an album, and you know the songs already, and you know exactly what they are “suppose to” sound like, and you expect them to sound that way live, and they try to do that, and they fail, partly sound quality, and partly human error. So, here you don’t know which version they will play, and then, when they play a new version that you’ve never heard before, it’s made fresh and new, and you’re not surprised because it’s already a known quantity.
Then there are the details, like the big screen with odd animated clips that are different during every song, and the little screen which he and the female singer (I suck with names) stand behind, camera with fish eye lens right in their faces and so you see them, a bit too big and distorted, right in front of where they stand. Maynard like to gesticulate wildly back there, which is quite amusing. There are sometime couches on stage, but here there were camp chairs, they had a camping theme, you see, and the musicians not currently playing, or sometimes the folks from the opening act, would come out and sit and sip wine, and hang out, And the video clips or sketches that happened on the big screen every 2 or three songs, like “Off the grid with Dick Mirkin”, or baking cookies with Hitler. Damn funny. And finally, there was the arrival of Tim Alexander, percussionist, in a “little red riding hood” costume, complete with skimpy skirt. Wow. Just wow. I think you have to be a real man to come out on stage in that kind of outfit. Especially when no one else was in a costume of any kind. (Here’s his Twitter post from the stage last night.)
All this blather is just testimonial to the awesomeness that is Puscifer.
And here are a few tidbits to wrap up with.
Maynards Twitter link: http://twitter.com/mjkeenan
And a copy of the Tweets made during last nights show:
9:02 pm – mjkeenan: About to begin night 2, seattle. internet is no longer kak. for the moment.
9:04 pm – mjkeenan: … and begin.
9:20 pm – mjkeenan: So far so Good.
9:29 pm – mjkeenan: trekka
9:43 pm – mjkeenan: Jeff nd Matt are on fire tonight. an i need my reading glasses.
9:49 pm – mjkeenan: @mattmcjunkins here. here comes @timalexander for vagina mine. he looks hot. but i’m somewhat scared of him
9:56 pm – mjkeenan: this is Tim…. I’m in my little red ridding hood suit… don’t know what to think anymore…whats happened to me?
10:26 pm – mjkeenan: humbling
And the play list – song list – set list:
- Rev. 22:20
- Drunk with Power
- Indigo Children
- Trekka
- Potions
- Mamma Sed
- Vagina Mine
- Dozo
- Undertaker
- Polar Bear
- Sour Grapes
- Queen B
- The Mission
- The Humbling River