Puscifer

Puscifer 10/18/22

Would anyone know/care who Puscifer was if it were not for Maynard? I for one would probably say no but it would not be fair to compare Puscifer with Tool or A Perfect Circle because other than Maynard these bands have little to nothing in common. Nevertheless, I was intrigued to see Puscifer in a live setting because there is a handful of their tunes I am keen on and I had never seen a show at the California Center for the Arts.

After Bob and I had a burger and brew at the nearby Plan 9 Alehouse on Grand we worked our way through the maze of the city hall campus to the Concert Hall. Once inside we halfheartedly attempted to see where our seats were while opener Night Club was on stage but the pitch dark venue made it easy to go grab a beer instead. Timing worked out perfect as the house lights were up by the time we made our way back and found our seats.

A short while later the lights went down and a funny vignette began to project from dual screens onstage. This vignette featured Maynard dressed as his character Agent Dick Merkin and suggested that the mystery meat in Spam was in fact people who were caught using their phones during the show as this was strictly prohibited.

The setlist leaned heavily towards their newest offering Existential Reckoning and the stage show also went along with the same motif with three “extras” dressed up as probe agents and aliens. It was well designed and executed. The drummer and bass player kept things moving along but also freed up the guitar player to do his thing on his guitar without a headstock. Karina and Maynard’s voices harmoniously blended as they moved all around the stage. This was the first show I had been to in a long time with a formal intermission but also quite possibly the first time I had seen Maynard look like he was actually having fun, especially dressed as his character Billy D.

SETLIST: Bread and Circus, Postulous, Fake Affront, The Underwhelming, Grey Area, Theorem, UPGrade, Apocalyptical, The Remedy, Personal Prometheus, Momma Sed, Horizons, The Humbling River, Bullet Train to Iowa, Man Overboard, Flippant, Conditions of My Parole, Bedlamite

Puscifer Livestream 4/17/21

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.