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Fourth time seeing Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer.  Always a treat!  I opted out of the hassle of doing the photo pass on this 2nd leg, as I wanted to catch Carina Round’s set and not miss the intro video or any of the Puscifer set like I had to back at the 1st leg kick-off in Seattle in Nov 2011.  Thus… ALL PHOTOS posted on this review are from the official Puscifer photographer and/or Meats Meier (see FB photo album).

I did the VIP soundcheck & wine tasting again (I’m a sucker for that)… Soundcheck performance was again stripped down acoustic on both songs – “The Chain” [Fleetwood Mac] and the personal favorite “The Humbling River” (with Carina Round on banjo).

For the wine, this time we tried the Arizona Stronghold’s Mandala (2010) & Mangus (2010) and the Caduceus Cellars’ Nagual de la Naga (2010).  The Mandala was nice, had a very sweet and somewhat tart nose, but definitely a dry/balanced finish.  It’s still young, but was an interesting viognier white wine blend.  The next two were reds, and I liked them more.  The Mangus was very drinkable.  It was a “super Tuscan” primarily sangiovese blend – sweet, fruity, a little buttery in the mouth-feel.  My favorite of the night was the Nagual de la Naga.  It would have been perfect with a rich meal… this cabernet savignon, merlot, and sangiovese blend was only bottled a week before the tour started; so it was definitely a young wine.  Despite its age, it was full bodied and beautiful to drink now.

Carina Round opened the show.  She’s a great rocker singer-songwriter who also backs Maynard on vocals during the Puscifer set… she seemed more comfortable than the last tour go around.  Her band was made up of a majority of the Puscifer live band.  She had a lot of energy, and a high kick near the end of the set gave those of us in the front rows a special treat.  She left the stage, and shortly thereafter the video intro started with Billy D (played by Maynard), Hildy, Cherry Piles, Peter Merkin, and other odd characters.

The show started out the same as Seattle… with Maynard wheeling out a small airstream camper.  He set up some tables and chairs and talked about sustainability and what they’re trying to do with Puscifer (listen to the Fall 2011 monologue from NC).

The show overall was very similar to last year’s leg, which is fine with me… it’s a great set of songs, a fantastic light show, and a paradox of high technology with a stripped down feel.  The song selection was also quite similar, except for the middle of the set we got “Potions” and “Mama Sed” instead of “Polar Bear” and “Indigo Children”…

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]
• Potions
• Momma Sed
• Oceans
• Monsoons
• Horizons
• Conditions of My Parole
• Man Overboard
• Telling Ghosts
• The Undertaker
• Tumbleweed
  No Encore

This is a brilliant tour for a brilliant album.  The western feel also fits extremely well with the newer mellower songs… tumbleweeds blowing by, fake campfire, and a dazzling electrical storm…

Don’t have Conditions of My Parole yet?  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 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
• My Other Related Reviews~
  • Puscifer @ Roseland #1 w/ wine tasting (Portland – Nov 2009)
  • Puscifer @ Roseland #2 (Portland – Nov 2009)
  • A Perfect Circle (Portland – June 2011)
  • Puscifer @ Paramount w/ wine tasting (Seattle – Nov 2011)
• PCPA/Arlene Schnitzer’s Site / Facebook / Twitter

Check out more tour dates below… the dates are winding down; so if you missed it, you’ll have to try next time!

Next shows for me… Seun Kuti @ WOW Hall (3/18) and Skerik’s Bandalabra @ Cozmic (3/20).

~Dan – np: John Zorn – IAO: Music in Sacred Light

Puscifer Winter Tour 2012

February
23  Austin, TX – Long Center for the Performing Arts
25 Baton Rouge, LA – River Center Theatre
26 Memphis, TN – Orpheum Theatre
28 Nashville, TN – Andrew Jackson Hall
29 Louisville, KY – Brown Theatre

March
1 Pittsburgh, PA – Byham Theatre
3 Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theatre
4 Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre
6 Kansas City, KS – Kansas City Music Hall
7 Omaha, NE – Omaha Civic Auditorium
10 Edmonton, AB – North Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
11 Calgary, AB – Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
13 Vancouver, BC – The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts
14 Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
16 San Francisco, CA Palace of Fine Arts
17 Riverside, CA Fox Performing Arts Center
18 Escondido, CA – California Center for the Arts