A Perfect Circle (7/12/11)

Some random, scattered thoughts on last night’s concert, left all random and scattered so I can just post it and not procrastinate.  Pardon.

History:  I have seen A Perfect Circle once before, about ten years ago, when they were opening for Nine Inch Nails and supporting their first album, Mer de Noms.

Now, let’s get this out of the way.  This is all IMO.  It’s music, and music is art.  These are my opinions.

So, Boston fucking rush hour traffic.  Seriously, these concerts at venues located right in the city need to be on weekends.  It took us a little over 2 hours to get up there; just 70 minutes to get home.

When we first got there after walking three blocks in 95 degree heat, and I was all sweaty and drippy and cursing Boston traffic and $10 drafts and $13 for parking, and why can’t nature be air conditioned, we got to our seats and – cupholders!  Behind the arms of the chairs in front of us, not in the arms of our own chairs.  This was genius, and I was pleased.

Damn straight, I’m not going to spill any of my $10 draft.
(Polish: OPI’s Yoga-Ta Get This Blue. Dark sapphire blue, not black.)           

Yeah, I’m the one who prefers outdoor concerts.  But 95 degrees and humid?  I hate to think how hot it was those middle sections.  Praise allah for our outer aisle seats.  We caught the occasional breeze, and it wasn’t so steambath-y after all.  After the sun set, even the under layer of hair at the nape of my neck had completely dried.

Good seats.
(pre-show; no photos allowed, not even on phones, once the concert started)

The three teenage Japanese metal chicks who opened?  Okay, maybe they weren’t teenagers after all, but I swear none were over 23.  And, yes, they were from Japan.  Also, I decided they were more hardcore, not metal.  The singer was a tad too screechy to understand, but they were sincere in their music.  In fact, they were well received, probably because everyone was like, “Awww, those little Japanese girls in the pink and black really can rock out.  How cute.”

Learning that this is the eMOTIVe tour, I thought it would be one of those album concerts some bands are doing these days.  I wasn’t thrilled, because eMOTIVe is mostly (peace themed) covers and mostly self-indulgence on APC’s part.  But aren’t most, if not all, cover albums self-indulgent?  Anyway, last week I found out this tour is 60% eMOTIVE, 40% Mer de Noms and Thirteenth Step.  Yay.

About covers.

I don’t think a cover song has to be better than the original to be good.  That rarely happens.  I simply have to enjoy it, like The Cure’s cover of “Purple Haze.”  A cover song that leaves you yearning to hear the original, though, is a miss.

Good eMOTIVe cover:  “Imagine”
Bad eMOTIVe covers:  “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, And Understanding,” “People Are People.”  Maybe it’s because I’m too fond of Elvis Costello’s 1979 cover and Depeche Mode’s original, but I’ve always liked “Imagine,” too, so go figure.  (Oooh, I do so like the late ‘70s albums from Elvis Costello and the Attractions.)

My favorites on eMOTIVe happen to be “Passive” and “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums,” the only two non-covers.  Please take the hint, Billy and Maynard.

I don’t even know if APC’s catalog is on iTunes, but I do recommend “Passive” for your listening pleasure.  Also, on Counting Bodies, I have to say, those yelp-y screams sure do sound like Trent Reznor, circa Pretty Hate Machine.

The band was surprisingly tight, considering that although each has worked with some of the others, they have not played as a fivesome prior to this tour, and it’s been years since any APC tour.  Maynard’s voice, whether a primal scream or a soothing whisper, still sounds like a lullaby to me.  Lastly, the acoustics at the amphitheater were fantastic.  That’s one of the reasons I prefer open air concerts.  (The other is … open air.  I don’t like to be enclosed with a large crowd; panic sometimes sets in.)

Hearing much of eMOTIVe live gave me a better appreciation for some of APC’s covers.  Except for “Peace, Love, and Understanding” and “People Are People.”  I still don’t care for those covers.  But my love for this band has been reaffirmed, and I’ve been listening to them exclusively in the days since, some sure signs of a good concert.

CR classmate Sara was completely impressed and blown away.  She hadn’t been to a concert in years, any concert, and her knowledge of APC was limited to their singles.  I’m pretty sure she will be (1) acquiring some CDs and (2) going to more concerts in the future.  Yay for Sara.

As for Maynard…

Maynard was wearing dark glasses and his Thirteenth Step wig (the one with the crazy pigtails, if that helps).  Wearing that wig and a long-sleeved shirt under the stage lights, he must have been absolutely sweltering.

As usual, Maynard did not engage in much chatter.  “Good evening,” after the third or fourth song.  And much later:  We’re not like your average egomaniac band who leaves the stage and does some ass grabbing while we listen to you cheer for more.  We’re going to save you the time.  We’re staying right here, and we’re going to do three more songs.  Not that we’re not egomaniacs, too.  (paraphrased)

“Peace out, bitches.”

In addition to Maynard James Keenan and Billy Howerdel, James Iha returned on guitar and keyboards.  Matt McJunkins (from Puscifer) took over bass.  Of course, I would have loved seeing Jeordie White again, but Matt did a fine job.  The only member of the lineup I was surprised to see was the drummer – can’t remember his name, also from Puscifer, I think.  Or Ashes Divide.  Both?  I don’t recall reading that Josh Freese was not returning as drummer.

Delights:
“Weak and Powerless” – the heavy, extra punched out ending.
“Orestes” – the powerful section near the finish.
Counting Bodies – this is a remix/part 2 of Thirteenth Step’s “Pet.”  The intro was met with the audience pounding on chairs (the rhythm of the war drums, I suppose).  Hearing it live made me appreciate it so much more.  Alternating between trancelike and invigoratingly aggressive (or aggressively invigorating?).  Yum.

GO TO SLEEP
GO TO SLEEP
GO TO SLEEP

This would have been a good song to peak to, you know, if I had been under the influence of anything more than a $10 draft (a/k/a “dinner”).  (Oh, and someone in our vicinity kept firing up some weed all night that totally smelled like skunk.  At first, I thought it was an actual skunk.  Honest.  I cannot imagine how nasty it must have been to smoke that stuff.)

Disappointment:  “3 Libras.” Oh my god, this song was reworked to the point of being almost unrecognizable and it did not work for me.  Not at all.  It’s the song that got me into APC, and it is so beautiful in its original version that I was really let down by the complete remixing of it.  I actually yawned at one point during the song.

Giggles:  The growly guy behind us, roaring deeply, “Yeeeaaaah, Maynard!”

Set list (as provided by some other site that provides that sort of stuff):

Annihilation (Crucifix cover)
Imagine (John Lennon cover)
Weak and Powerless
The Hollow
What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye cover)
People Are People (Depeche Mode cover)
The Outsider
Peace, Love, and Understanding (Nick Lowe cover)
When the Levee Breaks (Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy cover)
The Noose
3 Libras
Gravity
Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie (Black Flag cover)
Orestes
Passive
Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums
Fiddle and the Drum (Joni Mitchell cover)
By and Down (new material)

Thank you, Billy Howerdel, for bowing down to the audience and giving thanks at the close of the show.

When I got home, Sam greeted me with his customary series of meows, and I was all “Don’t fret, precious; I’m here.”  For real.  I am nuts.

Peace out, bitches.

=^..^=