Maynard James Keenan‘s pet project Puscifer began their tour in Seattle at the historic Paramount Theater. The performance began promptly at 8 pm — it was the first show I’ve been to in a while that began right on time. Carina Round — singer, songwriter, and, incidently, one of the members of Puscifer — was the opener. Her gorgeous voice reverberated through the theater, and I looked around, wondering what all of Maynard’s devotees thought of her rock-tinged pop sound. They were paying attention, and appeared to be enjoying themselves quite a bit. I’m personally looking forward to hearing her forthcoming album. She’s got a lot more going for her than being a backup singer for Keenan, that’s for sure.
After her short set, a screen came down and hovered in the top left corner of the stage. We were treated to a hilarious skit featuring Keenan’s character Billie Dee, a blond piece of redneck of trailer trash that drinks every day until 6 am. These skits punctuated most of the performance; in between songs we’d be treated to a laugh.
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After seeing the first skit I expected the band to come out dressed in costumes, acting as these characters, but they didn’t. The first person to come out on stage was Keenan wearing Western garb, dragging an Airstream trailer behind him. He ducked into the trailer and began pulling things out of it, explaining how many of the songs came into existence by a campfire as he set out lawn chairs, folding tables, and a grill in front of the trailer. A screen behind him displayed an image of a desolate desert road. Keenan stated that people go to the desert to either find themselves — or lose themselves — and that’s what the performance that evening, and the creative process, is all about.
Carina Round climbed out of the trailer to big applause and helped Keenan set up the rest of the set. Eventually they dragged a platform with a drum kit, a drummer, and some instruments on it onto the stage. It was surreal to see them dragging their gear around like that. It was quite intimate in a goofy sort of way, the whole act of setting things up seemed very unpretentious of them. I felt the urge to go up onstage and see if there was anything I could do to help — not because I felt annoyed or wanted them to rush, but because I was so disarmed by the way they were acting onstage that I would probably feel comfortable doing so.
We were warned that it was the band’s first show of the tour and that we were being experimented on; however, I thought things went swimmingly. It was an inspiring, all around good time with funny skits, great music, and pretty visuals. The images that were projected behind the band on the screen that spanned the stage were entrancing and often related to the lyrics — for example, a playful dust devil swirled behind the band during a gorgeous rendition of “Horizons,” and shots of a sparkling coastline came up on the screen to close out “Oceans.”
Carina Round was amazing — she really stole the show, dancing beside Maynard, her voice harmonizing beautifully with his. Interestingly, the two of them dance rather similarly. They move their arms as if performing an interpretive dance, bending their knees, swaying to the music like ocean floor seaweed being tossed by the tide. I see a strong artistic connection between the two of them.
I don’t mean to glaze over the rest of the band, though — the drummer, keyboardist, bassist, and guitarist did great as well. If this was what their shaky opening was like, I wondered what they’d look like when they’re all tightened up by the end of the tour.
They played most of their new album, Conditions of my Parole, as well as a few songs off of their debut album and their EP that came out in between the two. I particularly enjoyed hearing Carina Round sing the lead on “Rev. 22:20.” (How about hopping into the studio and recording that as a B-side, guys? Maybe include it on a live album? Please?)
In between songs the skits on the screen had the audience cracking up. Periodically Maynard or Carina would walk over to the lawn chairs and have a seat to casually sip a beverage and watch the skits on screen or their band mates perform. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. The crowd had a great time, and so did I. I highly recommend catching Puscifer live if they come through your town.