Photos by Mike Rosati // Written by Andrew Pohl //

A Perfect Circle with PRAYERS //
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium – San Francisco
April 13th, 2017 //

In the world of rock supergroups, there are few that have sprung up in the last few decades that can hold a candle to A Perfect Circle. From the onset, APC have been a powerhouse on the senses, combining members from bands such as Tool, The Smashing Pumpkins, Failure, Primus and more over the years. Their body of work has been met with high praise across the board, and they have been able to solidify themselves as one of the most unique and tenured groupings out there, as opposed to bands like Zwan and Velvet Revolver.

It was a bit of an earlier start for a show even with it being on a weekday, and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was only half full through the opening act. Hailing from San Diego, Chicano electronic-rock duo PRAYERS, who describe their music as “Cholo goth” and are comprised of vocalist Rafael Reyes and producer/keyboardist Dave Parley, initially seemed like another one of APC frontman Maynard James Keenan’s side projects given how Reyes looked and behaved similarly to Keenan’s “Country Boner” persona that he assumes with Puscifer, but after taking a closer look, it was obvious that wasn’t the case. PRAYERS’ music was a sharp contrast to A Perfect Circle’s, but they did have some awesome lighting, which helped keep our attention. As their set ended, the venue had sufficiently filled up, which wasn’t unexpected given that the show had been sold out for weeks.

A Perfect Circle kicked off their headlining performance with a giant shroud in front of them and a rad backlight on each band member that created five different shadows. They opened the show with “The Package”, the first track from their sophomore studio album Thirteenth Step, which was a great way to build tension. As he usually does when performing with APC and Tool, Keenan opted to stand concealed in a dark area toward the back of the stage and centered between guitarist James Iha and drummer Jeff Friedl, who were also on their own platforms in addition to Keenan’s. Taking center stage was the band’s creator and guitarist Billy Howerdel, who along with bassist Matt McJunkins, kept the energy at a high level by moving around the front area of the stage from right to left throughout the evening.

The Thirteenth Step-heavy set started with APC’s earlier tunes from their debut LP Mer de Noms before leading into the group’s awesome rendition of John Lennon’s timeless classic “Imagine”. Along the way, they ended up covering Brinsley Schwarz’s “(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”, which ultimately wasn’t much of a surprise.

As the night moved along, Keenan managed to get a few quips in, at one point mentioning that he could smell the marijuana smoke permeating from the crowd. He even stopped the show at one point to give Iha a chance to tell some vaudeville-esque jokes, which included rimshots from Friedl. My favorite was “Where do penguins keep their money?” … “in a snow bank” (ba-doom, crash!).

Although I didn’t get to hear my favorite APC song (“3 Libras”), I was stoked that they played “Magdalena”, “The Hollow”, “Weak and Powerless” and “The Outsider”. They winded down with “Gravity”, and for the closer, APC treated the audience to a brand-new song that’s called “Feathers”. This hopefully means that the rumored new album on the way may be coming out sometime this year, after their tour ends with a grand finale of a show at the Hollywood Bowl. With this supergroup, you never know, but they’ve been great about surprising us in the past, so keep your eyes peeled for more new music on the horizon.

Setlist:
The Package
The Hollow
The Noose
Weak and Powerless
Rose
Imagine (John Lennon cover)
Thinking of You
By and Down
Thomas
(What’s So Funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding (Brinsley Schwarz cover)
Magdalena
Vanishing
Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums
A Stranger
Blue
The Outsider
Gravity
Feathers