Puscifer, A Perfect Circle and Primus Join Forces For 60th Birthday Celebration

Puscifer, A Perfect Circle and Primus joined forces for an appearance known as Sessanta to mark Maynard James Keenan’s 60th birthday celebration tour. Band members exchanged places between performances to present an assortment of music that showcased each band‘s strengths.

Keenan is a wine mogul in his own right, owning Arizona’s Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars wineries as well as Four 8 Wineworks tasting room in Jerome. Additionally, he plays frontman for groundbreaking rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle.

Band Members

Puscifier is Maynard James Keenan’s project which allows him to tap into his “creative subconscious”, with influences and humor not found within A Perfect Circle’s work. Additionally, it gives him an opportunity to perform alongside Carina Round who provides dark rock that adds another psychedelic dimension.

This band was formed in 1995 by drummers Tim Alexander and Lane McElroy. Touring alongside Blink-182 and Aquabats, as well as creating the theme song for popular comedy show South Park was its forte; Tim Alexander composed its theme song.

Keenan organized Sessanta, an epic tour and three-track EP to commemorate his 60th birthday, which included APC members Mat Mitchell and Billy Howerdel and Primus as well as other musical collaborators from other groups like Puscifier.

Albums

2020’s Existential Reckoning, their latest album, will receive great promotion during this tour – marking their first outing to promote an existing release since Fantastic Negrito in 2015.

Green Naugahyde was released last year to mixed reviews; though some may attribute its low standing to it being released too close to TOOL frontman Robert Plant’s 60th birthday and lack of time off between gigs rather than any dissent with its music itself. Still impressive though is “Last Salmon Man” and “Hennepin Crawler”, both amongst TOOL’s greatest works.

Before embarking on their Sessanta tour, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer released The Sessanta E.P.P.P EP featuring three co-written songs written by Keenan that comprised The Sessanta E.P.P.P. A limited-edition vinyl variant was available exclusively at shows with different colors depending on where it was sold.

Tours

A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and Primus joined forces this month on their Sessanta Tour to commemorate vocalist Maynard James Keenan’s 60th birthday celebrations. All three acts provided exciting sets throughout the evening that provided plenty of energy and excitement!

This 29-song setlist featured five songs by each band and several collaborations between members, such as Keenan singing with bassist Les Claypool on Primus’ new track “Pablo’s Hippos,” while APC guitarist Carina Round sang lead on Keenan-penned APC track “Kindred.”

On this night, the bands also unveiled their three-way split EP, The Sessanta E.P.P.P. This release includes three tracks by each band and was co-written by Keenan. It was available both as vinyl at the show as well as webstore-exclusive glow-in-the-dark pressing and tour variant pressings; both versions can currently be streamed digitally on all digital music platforms and will soon become deluxe versions at future concerts.

Reviews

Keenan and his bandmates from A Perfect Circle and Puscifer make music that feels alive and current. The three-hour show varies with sets from both catalogs as well as tracks from Sessanta EP.

A Perfect Circle was the opening act of the night, starting off their performance with three songs: “The Package”, “Disillusioned”, and “Contrarian.” Lead singer Carina Round’s haunting vocals provide a haunting backdrop against Keenan’s side project’s lazily melodic melodies and vibrating distortion; her contribution makes A Perfect Circle truly distinct.

Puscifer followed with an energetic set that included “Man Overboard” and a thrilling cover of “Horizons.” Next, they debuted three tracks from their Sessanta EP: A Perfect Circle’s “Kindred,” Puscifer’s “No Angel,” (featuring Keenan on vocals) and Primus’s “Pablo’s Hippos”. Les Claypool donned his Pinnochio nose for string-slapping percussion that brought both groups to life – creating unique performances across both acts!