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REVIEW: Puscifer @ Paramount Theatre (Seattle, WA – 11/7/11)

8th Nov 11 (Tue) 15 comments

FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW are at the BOTTOM

A 6 week tour from Puscifer with no Oregon date? Well, pack up and drive to Seattle is what I’ll do! Seeing as Conditions of My Parole is vying quite strongly for one of my favorite albums of 2011 (and a marked improvement on Puscifer’s already strong work previously), I wasn’t going to miss this one.

This was only my second time to the Paramount Theatre (first time was for Spinal Tap Unwigged in 2009). It’s a really gorgeous venue.

I opted for the “VIP” plan; so 99 other rabids & I got to see a special “VIP Soundcheck” performance… stripped down acoustic on both songs – “The Chain” [Fleetwood Mac] and the personal favorite “The Humbling River” (with Carina Round on banjo). Maynard flubbed the lyrics slightly to the Fleetwood Mac song and joked about needing to google the lyrics later. After their short warm-up, Maynard talked about what they were trying to do with Puscifer – small, indie, sustainable. He joked about that with their small distributor that “even Hot Topics won’t take their call.” He thanked us for our support and then they left…

Also, being a sucker for Maynard, I also opted for the wine tasting session… For those not in the know, Maynard is an artist. He started with Tool. Branched out with Billy Howerdel on A Perfect Circle. But then he found his creative juices flowing with his boutique Caduceus Cellars / Merkin Vineyards in Jerome, Arizona. He makes fantastic wine with Eric Glomski and much help from his local friends… I’ve nabbed a few bottles in Ohio when I lived there, had some tastings at the 1st night Nov 2009 Puscifer show in Portland, and finally was able to direct order some at a local bottle shop in Eugene, Oregon (thanks, 16 Tons!).

Last night, we had the Merkin Vineyards’ The Diddler (2010) & Chupacabra (2010) and the Caduceus Cellars’ Sancha (2009). The Diddler was a nice white, primarily California Viognier, Arizona Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay/Malvasia Blanca blend. It was floral aromatic and a sweet in the nose, dry with a little sweet on the tongue. I’ve had the Chupacabra before (2005 & 2006). As a shape-shifter, it changes with each vintage. The 2010 had caramel and toffee on the nose. It was a deep, rich Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Syrah blend with all California grapes. The final wine was special, the 2009 Sancha was a gorgeous all Arizona grape Tempranillo blend (with Garnacha). Dark, deep fruity nose, slightly chalky tannins (thanks to the host for pointing out chalkiness in some tannins). I love Tempranillo! Maynard came up to the room we were in near the end of the tasting and flashed us the peace sign and said “thanks.” Much less interaction than two years ago, but he’s a busy guy.

“Drink responsibly… even at a rock show!”
-Puscifer road manager

I missed the front end of Carina Round’s opening set due to wine tasting and needing to run to my car to get my camera. Her short (30 minute?) set struck me as a singer-songwriter turned rocker. I like her sound, and I have enjoyed some of her singles in the past. Her latest is the 2009 EP – Things You Should Know. She also has a new exclusive video for “The Last Time” on AOL Music. Despite her shortish set, I knew we’d see her shortly, as she’s in the band…

The Puscifer show started shortly after Carina left the stage with the VH1 Behind the Music-esque videos chronicling the honky-tonk performers struggles in life and love and incarceration. The odd things about the stage set-up was that… there was no stage set-up. The stage was completely empty when the show-proper started. At around 9pm, out came a small silver-bullet camper that housed some campfire chairs, tables, and some band members. Maynard moved the camper into place while talking to us about sustainability and the tour.

Puscifer shows in the past had some complex set design & changes, but the set for this tour was fairly steadily a campfire scene – with of course, an audacious light and video show at times. The juxtaposition of simple and complex, like Maynard’s nature, was also similar to the juxtaposition of melodic and heavy. The set was pretty much the entire Conditions album, with some V is for… and C is for… songs thrown in, too. No skits, some videos (Meats Meier’s and others), no over the top costuming, just a focus on the great music!

Setlist: about 90 minutes

Maynard Monologue while setting up camper/stage
The Green Valley
Tiny Monsters
Vagina Mine
Dozo
Toma
The Rapture (Fear is a Mind Killa Mix)
The Weaver
Rev 22:20 [Carina Round on lead vocals]
Polar Bear
Indigo Children [2011 Mix]
Oceans
Monsoons
Horizons
Conditions of My Parole
Man Overboard
Telling Ghosts
The Undertaker
Tumbleweed
No Encore

Conditions of My Parole is a brilliant record; so I think you should go buy it if you haven’t yet. It’s at the top of my pile for 2011 releases (by far).

The 1st night of tour had very minimal hiccups (if any). Check it out, if you happen to be in the markets they’re hitting on this leg (see dates below). I was able to shoot the 3rd & 4th songs; ~~so check back for my photos once I have time to get home and edit them~~.

The Appropriate Linkage:

Puscifer’s Site
Caduceus Cellars (Maynard’s wines)
Puscifer’s Social Media Links (see below)
Carina Round’s Site
Carina Round’s Facebook / MySpace / Twitter
Gene Shilling’s photos from the 11/19 Detroit show
My Other Related Reviews~
- Puscifer Night #1 w/ wine tasting (Portland – Nov 2009)
- Puscifer Night #2 (Portland – Nov 2009)
- A Perfect Circle (Portland – June 2011)
STG/Paramount Theatre’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Check out more tour dates below the photos.

Next shows for me… a three-day run by Peter Mulvey (11/10 @ Sam Bonds in Eugene, 11/11 @ private house concert in Creswell, 11/12 @ Majestic in Corvallis).

~Dan – np: dredg – Chuckles and Mr Squeezy