A Perfect Circle stopped by Omaha's Baxter Arena Tuesday night for a rare visit. So no surprise the Arena was packed, but still had some room in the not so nose bleeds at the mini-rena. Not a bad seat in that place, but I was lucky enough to be on the floor around the fifty yard line or so, but no matter how close you were, there was a feeling of mystery and disengagement about the concert....Maynard. Maynard James Keenan the vocalist of Tool, Pucifer, and A Perfect Circle was shadow, never really revealing himself to the crowd, as his own personal stage was elevated, and quite away back from the front of the stage. I will also note that this Maynard only stage was vacuumed minutes before the band performed. I really wanted to take a picture of that, but it was heavily implemented that if you took any pictures or video of any kind you would be ejected immediately! Soo my phone was a watch for the time being. So as distant Maynard put himself from the audience it definitely took away from the show for ME, but that's what the dude does. He sounded phenomenal, and his funky, white guy, maybe even a little nerdy at times dance moves were something the show needed. There was a few moments when he talked to the crowd, nothing out of the ordinary, and no long political rants (THANK GOD) but he did say, "We need to trust each other" (or something like that) So thanks for Maynardism.
The true frontman of the band was Billy Howerdel. A very underrated guitarist in my opinion. Man, that guy can play. He displayed many different styles, and types of Rock, it was much needed, and Billy gave the audience the connection they needed.
The light show, screens, and the dronie sounds made for a very psychedelic, stony 90 minutes. The smell of reefers was present, but the music, and visuals was enough to get everyone a little high. It really was a wonderfully executed show by everyone. The only hiccup was before "The Package," Billy missed his mark, and the band continued on with "Gravity" then gave "The Package" another go. What about the hits...They played "3 Libras", "The Outsider" BUT NO "Judith." Oh well, it would have been nice, but the highlight of the night for me was "The Outsider" Billy just frickin' owned that one, and took the audience on the ride with him more so than any other song that night.
Here's the setlist from Omaha's show, APC Setlist. THE EXACT SAME SETLIST they performed the following night in Colombia, MO! F'ing hate that! If you don't wanna play this hits that's one thing, but switch it up!
Great show. I give it a high 7 out of 10. Did you see a APC? What did you think of the show? Let us know on FB, and my next concert review will be Stone Temple Pilots at the Bourbon Theater on June 1st. I'll see you out there, until then here's a video of Billy and Maynard going wig shoppin'.....WTF?