by Chris Engelman
Lakewood Civic Auditorium, Lakewood, Ohio – Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Opening Band – Carina Round

What do you look for in a show?

Let’s be honest. A hard-earned buck doesn’t go too far anymore, so an evening out could very well turn into buyers’ remorse, rather than a night to remember.

Let me tell you. If you have a chance to see Puscifer live, go ahead and do your eyes and ears a favor and shell out whatever the hell Ticketmaster wants for a seat.

My wife and I drove almost three hours to see them in a glorified high school gym that couldn’t even serve booze, and it was probably the best investment of our 2011-2012 school year.

Puscifer and Carina Round dominated the 2,500 seat capacity Lakewood Civic Auditorium and will no doubt leave a lasting impression on every one of the attendees in the nearly sold out venue.

Carina Round and her well-dressed quintet set the tone to a seated audience that welcomed each and every heart-felt tune. Their sound is a tastefully layered, unpredictable whirlwind of raw emotion and style, rolled into an atmospheric and rockin’ ambiance that is sure to trigger lost memories in the most latent subconscious mind. The songs are not very catchy, but they can suck you into oblivion and cause you to forget whatever baggage you brought through the door. I was enthralled from the first to the last song, and was even quite choked up from time to time. It’s not often the opening act feels like a long, lost friend.

Now on to Puscifer.

Before Puscifer took the stage, the audience was treated to a pseudo-documentary featuring “Billy Dee” and “Hildy”, characters played by Keenan and Laura Milligan on Puscifer’s last tour. The crowd was then shown a Public Service Announcement featuring “Major Douche” barking orders not to use flash photography.

Maynard kicked off the show by dragging a trailer out onto the stage which included a few camping chairs and Carina Round. Keenan took the opportunity to tell a short story of how humans, in their hunter-gatherer days would gather ’round the central fire between day and night when the artistic and the utilitarian alike would be together in perfect harmony to evaluate the day ending, and plan the day to come. The pair set up the campsite while humming the intro to “Tiny Monsters” and invited the audience to join their campout and truly feel welcomed. (The campfire was a fake fire in a Weber-style grill). A campout with Maynard would not be complete without an opened bottle of red wine (more than likely a wine from his Caduceus cellars in Jerome, AZ.)

“Conditions of My Parole”, Puscifer’s newest release, comes across as a well-produced, well-mixed work of studio magic that would be difficult if not impossible to pull off live. This group performed a staggering 18 songs in their set, which included every single track from their most recent release, and delivered them flawlessly. Puscifer sounds like they’ve been playing together for decades and recreates each song as well, if not better than their recorded versions.

I found myself enjoying songs live that I didn’t care for on the albums, because some of them just translate better live. Perhaps my favorite – as well as the crowds’ favorite was “The Undertaker” from their debut album, as it was extremely powerful and even larger than life.

When I realized that the show was roughly halfway over, I immediately wanted to see them again.

SET LIST:
Green Valley
Tiny Monsters
Vagina Mine
Dozo
TOMA
The Rapture
The Weaver
REV 22-20
Polar Bear
Indigo Children
Oceans
Monsoons
Horizons
Conditions of My Parole
Man Overboard
Telling Ghosts
The Undertaker
Tumbleweed

Maynard James Keenan…………………….Vocals
Carina Round…………………………………..Additional Vocals
Mat Mitchell…………………………………….Bass, Guitar, Banjo
Josh Eustis……………………………………….Guitar, Piano, Banjo, Erhu
Jeff Friedl………………………………………..Drums, Percussion
Jon Theodore……………………………………Drums
Matt McJunkins………………………………..Bass