“A Perfect Circle” stopped in Central Florida and MNPR Magazine sent their Florida correspondent MarkHoran.Pictures to cover the show. On Tuesday night, Halloween eve at the CFE Arena located on the campus of The University of Central Florida, seven thousand plus fans were mesmerized by attending the “A Perfect Circle” concert. The stage lighting I experienced in my first two song shoot was a dim blue light without spotlights or accents. More of a blue hew. My cameras limits were pushed to the limit to get any images at all. I believe this was done by design as the bands front man, Maynard James Keenan was barely visible on a riser at the rear of the stage. The crowd was instructed was that no cell phone pictures or video would be tolerated and expulsion from the arena would occur by the public address system. Flyers were hung on the backs of every third chair in case the concert goers forgot.

Starting the show was a band out of California, Night Club. Emily Kavanaugh used every inch of the stage as she moved back and forth singing to the electronic groove produced by Mark Brooks. The lighting was the brightest of the night. The set was short, about twenty minutes and Emily was highly entertaining.

Night Club

Band

Emily Kavanaugh - Vocals
Mark Brooks – Electronics

The second opening act was Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws, known as Tricky, an artist from England who is a rapper and record producer that has released eight solo albums. The stage was extremely dark, probably the darkest of the night. From where I stood, I could barely make out the musicians on stage. A little light might have made his performance easier to watch.

Tricky

I was frustrated during the first two songs from “A Perfect Circle” as I couldn’t properly get images for my review. But after my camera was stowed in a back office I settled into my seat to complete my assignment. The remainder of the show was magical. Sophisticated back lighting really made the show spectacular. As the show progressed, the lighting got better, and the band gained momentum, and the crowd got more frenzied.

Maynard James Keenan is the front man for three popular bands, Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. I saw Tool in 2002. I distinctly remember after the third song, Maynard stripped off his clothes and finished the concert wearing just a pair of black bikini underwear. I came prepared for anything after seeing that show. It appeared in the poor lighting that Maynard was wearing a crazy wig. As the show wore on and the lighting got better, he was wearing face paint and resembled Michael Keaton’s character Beetlejuice, from the Tim Burton film. Between songs “The Noose” and “3 Libras” Maynard went to the microphone and said to the audience he was trying to figure out what they were wearing, as he was in a Halloween costume. Then he exclaimed, “I finally figured it out, you people are dressed like people from Florida!” With that the arena bust into cheers as after ten songs, Maynard had finally addressed that he was in costume as it was October 30, 2018, Halloween eve.

What I took away from this performance was the difference between the two shows I have seen with the same lead vocalist:, “A Perfect Circle” was much more versatile than “Tool” as the bass player and lead guitar sang great harmonies and lead vocals. Billy Howerdel on lead guitar and Matt McJunkins the bass player was positioned at the front of the stage and were the only two moving back and forth. They were entertaining and almost featured. Maynard, Greg Edwards Guitar/Bass, and the drummer Jeff Friedl were at the rear of the stage and were stationary atop individual risers.

I hope my review brings the reader to the show, despite the lighting issues. This band is phenomenal, and the show is a must see. Be prepared for anything from Maynard. Say my name, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

A Perfect Circle

Band

Billy Howerdel _ Lead Guitar
Maynard James Keenan - Vocals
Greg Edwards – Guitar/Bass
Matt McJunkins - Bass
Jeff Friedl – Drummer