Ah, Puscifer. A repeat band from last year around this same time. While I did enjoy it, it certainly didn’t top last year’s performance as part of the Sessanta tour. But let’s dive in.
April 10, 2026. Just like last year, this show was at the Foxwoods Premier Theater in CT. However, it wasn’t three bands continuously playing like last time, instead it was more traditional with an opener and headliner. The opening act was a dude named Dave Hill, who came out on a bicycle doing lame wheelies, but completely on purpose. He was basically a weird, musical, awkward comedy act. His first song was about him being a “Caveman in a Spaceship.” The singing, was purposely bad (I hope), nonsensical, with prerecorded music. He kept leading the crowd in chants of “Dave! Dave! Dave!” while simultaneously telling us not to chat his name, while also thanking us. What comes to mind to describe this guy is if Zach Galifianakis fronted a band using his “Between Two Ferns” personality. And if you’re not sure what that is, you’ll just have to look it up.
Then he picked up the guitar, took requests – of which he’d play 2 seconds of a given song – citing “you know the rest.” But after a few joking starts, he started to shred! This dude can play! He did a poor cover of Danzig’s Mother where he pretended to barely know the words, so just lots of mumbling besides “Mother!” He then had a drummer and bassist join him while he played some pretty sweet blues riffs and rocks solos while reciting pickup lines that the crowd could use while in that part of CT. Lots of nonsense, coughing during songs, wrong lyrics, etc., but fully entertaining and lots of laughs!
Puscifer was next and like last year, there was a no camera or cell phone policy. While you could keep it on you, it needed to be in your pocket or face ejection. There was plenty of staff and security walking around and it seemed to be enforced, so I didn’t take the chance. Instead, just like shows of the past, everyone watched the show! No distractions, no screens in your face; just a sea of people paying attention.
Now Puscifer is a weird ass band. It’s a project from Maynard James Keenan (lead singer of Tool and A Perfect Circle) but more performance based. I read somewhere that he describes it as his “creative subconscious.” It’s very performance based with weird dancing, weird makeup, weird outfits, and more. Honestly, it kind of reminded me of 80s synth pop artists meets the 1960s Batman villains. He seems to be playing a character like Bowie did with Ziggy Stardust.
They played a few prerecorded videos during the show, which made no sense, and there was little to no crowd interaction except for a couple thank you’s, dedicating one song to the Artemis 2 astronauts (who he confirmed had landed safely), and before the last song letting the crowd know they can take out their cameras now. A sea of screens appeared.
Am I a big Puscifer fan? No. In fact, I only knew 1 song which was The Humbling River right after intermission.
But it didn’t matter to me, the music was solid and enjoyable. Looking around the crowd, I didn’t see a ton of singing along to familiar tunes, so I don’t think I was alone. But Maynard knows how to design a stage and put on a show. Though, the fake gun fight and bow and arrow bit was quite cheesy. Oh well. The post-intermission part of the show was great. The music was heavier, catchier, perhaps a little more in the realm of Tool and A Perfect Circle? I definitely enjoyed this part most.
Overall, a fun time. If you have a chance to catch him with any of his three bands, I don’t think you’d be disappointed.
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