A Perfect Circle

PH Live Presents, A Perfect Circle, Planet Hollywood Hotel Casino, December 29, 2012, Las Vegas, Nevada

Maynard James Keenan of A Perfect Circle

A Perfect Circle’s announcement that their singular show in 2012, would be December 29th in Las Vegas was exciting news. I knew I would be at the box office when it opened to guarantee great seats. I wasn’t lonely in that line, there were many of us who didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

A Perfect Circle, a true supergroup, is comprised of guitarist/vocalist, Billy Howerdel (Ashes Divide); vocalist, Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Puscifer); bassist/keyboardist, Matt McJunkin (Puscifer, Ashes Divide, Carina Round); Guitarist/keyboardist, James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins); and drummer, Jeff Freidl (Puscifer, Filter, Devo, Ashes Divide, Carina Round). This is a band that hasn’t released an album since, eMOTIVe in 2004, but the fans have not waivered in their loyalty and enthusiasm for this project.

I have been fortunate to see A Perfect Circle perform on several occasions and each performance has been a unique and satisfying musical experience. On this night, the music was divided across their three albums, heavy on tracks from eMOTIVe, with seven of their interpretations (it’s hard to classify these songs as covers since they are reinterpreted so originally I can’t classify them as “covers”) and two originals from that anti-war themed third album. Three songs from their first album, Mer De Nom and five from Thirteenth Step completed the main setlist. Instead of going through the motions of leaving the stage and having the fans summon them back for an encore, Maynard cut to the chase and announced they would bypass that ritual (as they have every time I’ve seen them) and finish up the night with By and Down, a new original first performed during their 2011 tour.

Who knows when this group will have another opportunity to come together and tour again, they are all busy with multiple projects. I hope they are inspired to write new material together and tour again in the near future but whether or not that happens, A Perfect Circle has created a body of work that is timeless and they will always have a fan base ready to embrace the new and forever enthusiastic for their past creations.

Setlist: