Maynard James Keenan turned 60 years old this week and celebrated as only he can- with a pair of packed shows at Arizona’s Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre. The Sessanta tour- which included sets from Keenan’s own projects Puscifer and A Perfect Circle- also featured Primus and a slew of mixing and matching band members for a unique show experience for the fans.
Prior to showtime, a mildly unsettling video of Keenan played, advising against the use of cell phones for the duration of the set- and violators would be subject to removal and repurposed into ground meat. This policy held true for the entire show save for the last song, where the venue lit up with fans excited to capture at least one moment of the evening.
The show began with a lofty set from A Perfect Circle while the other bands took their place on couches perched on a platform next to the trio of drum kits needed for each performance. The transitions from A Perfect Circle to Primus to Puscifer and back were so seamless that the audience barely registered the segue and kept bobbing along before the realization kicked in.
Primus brought their own eclectic energy to the middle of the APC/Puscifer sandwich, playing hits like “Too Many Puppies” and “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver” while Puscifer chugged along to “Horizons” and “Bullet Train to Iowa”. Each band got three mini-sets, before the full Sessanta collaboration at the very end of the night.
Before anyone thinks this was an overly serious show, we were diverted by the ping pong tournament happening onstage during Puscifer, the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots battle and the stairlift used by all three bands to mingle on the platform while music was still going on. These three bands were having an absolute blast and drew that energy from the crowd as well. Vintage tour shirts were spotted sprinkled throughout and parents brought their kids for the next generation of fans to witness this special collaborative performance.
The whole of Sessanta took the stage for one final set, culminating in a breathtaking performance of “Grand Canyon”. As the final notes rang out and the musicians onstage embraced and bowed to the crowd, Keenan officially rang in his 60th birthday in elaborate and spectacular fashion.
