Puscifer has never been much more than a curiosity for me and that is only due to Maynard as I am such a big fan of Tool and A Perfect Circle. The music has never struck me the same way as Maynard’s other projects but the first Puscifer album I purchased was Money Shot so when a stream of this album was announced I thought what the hell. 

The stream was entitled “Billy D and the Hall of Feathered Serpents” and Maynard’s acting chops were put on full display during the opening scene in which ”Billy D” unsuccessfully attempts getting back with his woman and almost succeeds in getting his ass kicked in a bar full of Mexican Luchadores wrestlers. It all felt a little “Bikini Bandits” esque and by no means is that a bad thing.

A pair of “bartisians” handled segues between each song to announce the forthcoming song. “Galileo,” “Agostina” and “Grand Canyon” went off without a hitch before Billy D made another appearance to do a spoken word piece right before a change of scenery as the band now performed from a wrestling ring for “Simultaneous,“ “Money Shot,” “The Arsonist” and “The Remedy,” where the Luchadores finally caught up with Billy D.

“Smoke and Mirrors” again marked a change of scenery to a sound stage of some sort. This scene would continue through to the end of the hour-long stream with “Flippant,” “Life of Brian” and “Autumn” to close it out.

Production wise this is one of the best streams I have seen. The sound and visuals were on point. This may have contributed to being the most expensive stream I have purchased at nearly $30 by the time all was said and done.

I love that streams (live or pre-recorded) have taken place in the absence of concerts but I like the danger of live concerts because anything can and usually does happen. I like the mistakes. I like the improvisation. I like the real moment shared between band and crowd.