By Josh Herwitt //

Puscifer with Billy Howerdel, Moodie Black //
Greek Theatre – Los Angeles
June 12th, 2022 //

California has already felt its first heat wave this year, and we’ve only reached the middle of June.

For those of us living in the Golden State who are more familiar with the notion of June Gloom than triple digits, that should only serve as a warning sign that the next three months could be unfavorably H-O-T.

While the high temperatures might play well for the live music industry with this summer marking the first since it returned to full form due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the coronavirus still remains a major part of daily life in the U.S. For that reason alone, it’s these long days when the weather is warmer (than usual) that can feel particularly reserved for us to safely catch live music outside before the days become short and a chill fills the air again. Call it “outdoor concert season” if you’d like. Either way, it’s certainly one of our favorite times of the year.

In my own case, being invited to cover Puscifer’s show at the Greek Theatre seemed like a cool way — even if there was some “work” involved — to celebrate my birthday. After all, what could be better than watching your favorite vocalist perform on your special day at one of LA’s most historic music venues?

Maynard James Keenan has long been known as the frontman for the critically acclaimed rock bands Tool and A Perfect Circle dating back more than a couple of decades ago, but the third project that the 58-year-old multi-hyphenate — which includes his acting and winemaking ventures over the years — considers to be his “creative subconscious” has been making music for almost 15 years with its latest LP Existential Reckoning dropping toward the end of 2020.

Puscifer, in many ways, feels inspired at least in part by Keenan’s brief stretch in Green Jellÿ during the early 90’s that saw him sing those high-pitched backup vocals as one of the pigs on the 1992 hit “Three Little Pigs” (you might recall the song’s classic claymation music video, too). Half comedy rock and half joke metal, the trio that also consists of Mat Mitchell (guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, production) and Carina Round (vocals, guitar, percussions, keyboards) as permanent members has found a niche among MJK fans who don’t always take their rock ‘n’ roll so seriously. As you can see from our photos below in fact, there were actually a couple of spectators sitting near us who dressed up in costume as Keenan’s “Billy D” character and special agent Round complete with a metal briefcase.

That’s, of course, all part of the fun at a Puscifer show. Never short on theatrics, the group often plays pre-recorded videos during its live performances that only provide the audience with more laughs and further entertainment over the course of two hours. Even those who aren’t familiar with Puscifer’s four studio albums like “V” Is for Vagina and Money Shot should get a kick out of agent-in-training Keenan trying to play a strange game of celebrity lookalike on screen at one point in the evening.

Yet I would be remiss to not mention that when Puscifer announced “The Existential Reckoning Tour” in February, the slogan for the 21-date run was “Prepare To Be Probed.” And despite the message’s erotic undertones unsurprisingly, it does feel rather fitting as our world becomes more uncertain by the day. No one can know for sure if Planet Earth will be overtaken by extraterrestrials in the future, but with Keenan opening our eyes to the possibility while still managing to make us giggle, spending a night with Puscifer isn’t just an escape from reality whether you’re blowing out candles or not.

Setlist:
Act I
Bread and Circus
Postulous
Fake Affront
The Underwhelming
Grey Area
Theorem
Vagina Mine (Remixed)
UPGrade

Act II
Apocalyptical
The Remedy
Personal Prometheus
A Singularity
The Humbling River (Nagual del Judith Mix)

Act III (Billy D on vocals)
Bullet Train to Iowa
Flippant
Conditions of My Parole
Bedlamite