Among the many big shed tours that take place in any given year, perhaps the most fascinating in recent memory is Sessanta. This outing brings together A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, and Primus – three acts that inspire a certain level of mainstream nostalgia while still dabbling comfortably in the fringe. With such big names – including Tool’s Maynard James Keenan pulling double duty – Sessanta is truly a co-headlining tour that happens to have three headliners. But instead of sticking to the traditional model of one set followed by a thirty-minute changeover, these three uniquely different yet somehow similar acts have chosen to take a high-concept approach to their stage show that keeps it all rolling right along. On Friday, June 6th, Sessanta descended on Ridgefield, Washington, just outside of Portland, for the second-to-last stop on the 2.0 tour.
The most striking aspect of the Sessanta tour was its fluid layout, which saw each band playing brief three- or four-song sets while the next act trickled onstage. The instruments were ready to go, most notably with three drum sets lined up on a tall platform that also featured black leather couches, as if the band had brought the green room right to the stage. This started with A Perfect Circle, who ran through moody, arena-ready rock tunes like “The Package,” Disillusioned,” and “Blue.”
Primus strolled in next with the aptly placed “Here Come the Bastards” to kick off their first run of tunes. The funky “Groundhog Day” bounced right along with the help of Maynard James Keenan and Carina Round, who casually hung out and chimed in on background vocals as if watching a jam session. Primus may have been the most anticipated act of the night, considering their recent lineup change that has brought John Hoffman into the drum seat. Of course, Hoffman fit like a glove as he provided a propulsive backbeat to songs like the new “Little Lord Fentanyl” as well as classic Primus fare like the frenetic grunge weirdness of “Welcome to the World,” “My Name Is Mud” and “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver.” The latter two received some of the biggest crowd reactions of the night, both from the energy being unleashed by the band as well as Maynard James Keenan waving a checkered race flag from the comfort of the onstage couch. While each band played at the top of their game, almost as entertaining as the music was the stage antics that almost felt meta, as if we were watching the musicians live their touring life onstage and off, all in the scope of the performance. During the richly harmonious Puscifer tune “Bullet Train to Iowa,” they even wheeled out a ping pong table to play a quick round while Keenan and Round belted the vocals.
This type of playful, easygoing spirit was embodied throughout the night, offering an almost comical juxtaposition with the seriousness of the music. Often, these moments blended together, like with the triple drum attack during A Perfect Circle’s “The Doomed,” or with Les Claypool popping in during Puscifer’s expansive and ominous rocker “The Humbling River.” Keenan would return the favor during the swaggering Primus tune “Pablo’s Hippos” before the always rousing and gleefully disturbing bass monster “Too Many Puppies.” The collaborations continued during the final “set” of the night from A Perfect Circle, with the swelling “Kindred” seeing multiple musicians join in to give the song its orchestral power before the band unloaded their massively popular late grunge-era hit “Judith.”
By the time Primus rounded things out with their beloved anthem “Southbound Pachyderm,” only to be followed by Puscifer’s unifed version of “Grand Canyon,” featuring multiple members of all three bands joining in, they had more than succeeded in proving the concept of Sessanta yet again. While the rotational style of the performance may not have fully satiated the fans looking to see their favorite band of the lineup play a normal full set, it was impossible not to admire both the logistical feat of pulling off this kind of stage show as well as the musical chops required to do it. For most of the audience, Friday’s show gave them a novel experience that marks another creative chapter for these bands. It also makes one wonder if other acts could pull off the Sessanta model.
