Maynard James Keenan knows how to throw a party.
When the Tool frontman turned 50, he performed a series of shows in Los Angeles with his two other bands, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, along with his pals Primus. He called it “Cinquanta,” which is 50 in Italian.
Keenan was so pleased with the results, last year he took the show — now dubbed “Sessanta” — on the road to celebrate his 60th birthday. The outing was such a success, Keenan did it again this year. While “Sessantuno” is just sitting there ready to go, Keenan went with “Sessanta V2.0” instead.
Regardless of its title, the tour landed at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center Sunday night for a memorable show quite unlike anything seen in arenas. Rather than three distinct performances, Keenan turned the evening into a three-hour concert mashup that only stopped for a 10-minute intermission.
The bands played three separate sets of three to four songs each, one after another. To be clear, each has a distinct sound of their own. Primus specialize in bass-heavy, off-kilter rock with a goofy sense of humor. The most commercial of the trio, A Perfect Circle offer a guitar-driven take on alt-rock, while Puscifer boasts a more dramatic, and electronic, approach with help from a second vocalist, British signer/songwriter Carina Round.
Still, Sunday’s show brought out the acts’ similarities and obvious camaraderie. A giant riser at the back of the stage held three full drum kits as well as sofas, drink carts and stairs to the main stage on either side. Throughout the show, various band members who weren’t playing hung out in full view of the crowd. During Puscifer’s “Bullet Train to Iowa,” roadies even pulled out a ping pong table for two members of APC to use.
There were also plenty of collaborations, like when Keenan and Round added backup vocals to Primus’ new single “Little Lord Fentanyl,” their first recording with their terrific new drummer John Hoffman. (Primus reportedly auditioned more than 6,000 drummers before finding Hoffman.)
With the 200 level closed off, the show could have easily downgraded to the 8,400 capacity Armory in Minneapolis. Then again, it felt like the sort of spectacle custom made for arenas and amphitheaters. And the grand finale of Primus’ “Southbound Pachyderm” with all three drummers and Puscifer’s “Grand Canyon” with all three bands had fans cheering so loud it sounded like a full house.
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