Keenan was clearly having a blast, playing Rock’em Sock’em Robots and ping pong with Round and Puscifer guitarist Mat Mitchell, and ending the night with a rock-paper-scissors match with Josh Freese. He has become a staple of Atlanta, it was a nice treat to see him join the band. Don’t let the clown outfit fool you, Michael Geier‘s baritone voice is no joke and he can command nearly any song he performs. No birthday party is complete without a clown, and Atlanta’s own Puddles Pity Party sat in to sing a stellar cover of A Perfect Circle’s “The Hollow”. Maynard James Keenan and Josh Freese playing rock-paper-scissors at end of show It was as if we were at a fancy keg party and the audience got to partake in the fun.

It was incredible to see Keenan rocking out to Primus. It is not your typical ‘first band of the night plays for an hour and heads to the Four Seasons’ tour, rather the show actually felt communal. It is a novel idea for a multi-band bill which kept the setlist fresh and the fans totally tuned in at every turn. Essentially, there were multiple phases of songs and after each act played an average of 2-4 tunes, the members would hang out on couches on stage risers in between sets while watching the other bands play. The concept of the show was a perfect, no-down-time approach that kept the audience engaged and entertained throughout the three-hour event. Claypool noted that the solar eclipse happened to take place at the same time of Keenan’s 60th trip around the sun, while joking about some maniacal political conspiracy theorists. The band brought some heaters to the chilly, wet evening in Georgia, including “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver”, “My Name is Mud”, “Too Many Puppies”, and Keenan providing guest vocals on “Tommy the Cat” (dubbed ‘Maynard the Cat’). Claypool’s bass sound and unmistakable vocals come alive when he plays with Tim Alexander (drums) and Ler LaLonde (bass). Primus are uniquely there own in the world of music, lead by the fearless frog leader, Les Claypool. Carina Round‘s soothing voice compliments Keenan with ease, and songs like “Flippant”, “The River” and “The Remedy” showcased the band’s brilliance and prove the quality AND quantity of creative output Keenan can put together. Puscifer finely weave between low key, spacey grooves and experimental and melodic rock. Keenan‘s adaptive and captivating vocals thrived during the course of the night, despite him having to play double duty in between A Perfect Circle and Puscifer shifts. He elevates every song he plays on and is awe-inspiring to see perform. One of the other focal points is Josh Freese, the drumming phenom who has seemingly played on every rock record of the last 30 years and is now a permanent member of Foo Fighters. Billy Howerdel is the master at haunting and ethereal guitar parts that add so much color to the band’s vibrant sound. Although James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins is not part of this tour on guitar, Greg Edwards more than made up for it. A Perfect Circle then took the stage for their first tour since 2018, with the thunderous “The Package” setting a mighty tone for the evening. The show started promptly at 8:00 pm with an outlandish and hilarious PSA video reminder by Keenan to attendees to not take pictures of videos with their phones or they would be tossed into the meat grinder used to make canned Spam. All three playing together made for a whimsical and enjoyable night. Unique time signatures, bizarre lyrics, dark and sometimes silly themes… it is a wonderfully-odd but satisfying journey when watching each band perform.

Each has a strange and fascinating quality that draws listeners in and becomes even more enticing in a live format. These three bands do not come from your three-chords-and-the-truth, formulaic rock schools of thought. What an amazing idea and a great excuse to have a party and play some quality tunes. To celebrate his 60th birthday, the Tool singer brought together two of his other bands ( A Perfect Circle & Puscifer) and his buddies in Primus for a month-long celebratory musical tour. Maynard James Keenan sure knows how to throw a party.

Georgia on my mind chords lyrics