A PERFECT CIRCLE: THIRTEENTH STEP 2003-2004
PHILADELPHIA, PA [THEATER OF LIVING ARTS]
8.6.03
By Resist Thy Fate
Well, let's start out at the beginning. I live just south of Boston, and Philadelphia is a 5 hour drive from my house. A few days before the concert, I'd already heard the Atlanta show and had two copies of the setlist. So on the day of the concert, we got ready.Three of my friends and I took our $115 eBay purchased tickets, a wallet full of cash and three packs of cigarettes and started driving. Traffic wasn't bad, and there's no real point in talking about the trip. As soon as we got to Philly about 3 hours before the show we started seeing signs of the upcoming show---starting with a car from New York with a liscense plate ending in "OGT." We drove by the concert where there were already about 30 people in line. One of my friends noted that it was a pretty uniform crowd---Tool, APC and Nine Inch Nails shirts, several people in full make up and hardly anyone with colors on. We decided there was no real point waiting in line since the crowd would be so small that we could go anywhere we wanted, so we went to get a few Philly Cheesesteaks. Disappointing. Anyway, in the restaraunt we were in, we met a kid who said he had just won tickets to the show from the radio. He'd never even heard of A Perfect Circle, other than in the context of Tool, so we told him how it was Billy Howerdel's project and Maynard doesn't deserve much respect for it.
We went to get a place in line afterward, about 90 people back, winding just around the curb. After my friends secured a place in line, I walked to the front and started handing out copies of the setlist I had made---I gave one to someone who looked really eager to see it, and another to the first attractive girl that asked for it. I went back to my place in line, and after only a few cigarettes the doors opened. It was then about 7:30. There was a bit of a wait before I got inside, when I picked up 2 shirts (one for my brother who wasn't there, another for me.) The four of us went into the room of the show, and we were only about 10 people from the stage. A CD of "Journey" played before the show, angering alot of fans. I found it tolerable. We conversed with the people around us, most of them being Tool fans there to see Danny Carey and the notorious Rev. MJK.
Eventually Pigmy Love Circus came on. I liked them, but couldn't take them too seriously. I got the impression that they were there to play--and didn't have alot to say, which I can respect. The crowd was practically dead---a few cheers (many for Danny alone), a few "boos" for everyone else. When the set was over, everyone tried frantically to catch Danny Carey's drumsticks, and then anxiously awaited A Perfect Circle, cheering even for the stage crew who came out to do soundchecks.
By the time A Perfect Circle was onstage, I had pushed my way up so that I was only three people behind the bar. By the end of the set, I would only be two. Dozens of fans screamed for Maynard, and several for Iha... odd that so few were interested in Jeordie, Josh or Billy...
As the set began with the Lullaby intro, I was at the most 8 feet from Jeordie. From this point on, I'll review an individual song at a time.
Lullaby/Pet: This was a very powerful song, and the band was practically flawless. Maynard seemed to be struggling a bit to get into it, but by the end he knew what he was doing. Note that Maynard, the dick that he is, was on a 3 foot raised pedestal a head above any of the rest of the band, and until the end of Pet, he had curtains surrounding him, so all you could see was his shadow in a box. Now, Lullaby/Pet is a great song, especially for a live atmosphere, but it didn't seem to set the mood for A Perfect Circle all that well. By the first chords of The Hollow, however, that would change...
The Hollow: Seeming very true to Alan Moulder's 2001 mix of The Hollow, this track is what got the crowd going. Barely anyone in the crowd was moving, since we had all been told not to mosh or crowd surf. My friends, however, ignored this and started a pit a few feet behind me, and for Hollow, at least, the pit went nuts. I was several people away from it and I was struggling to breathe, I was being pushed so tightly against the people in front of me. The band was extremely good on this track, and I found myself gazing to Jeordie and Billy above anyone else. I didn't look at Iha the entire night.
Magdalena: I never got into this song on the album. I liked it, but it was never anything special. Live, however, that was changed. I found myself singing along, my eyes locked on Billy for the entirety of the song. The crowd was more mellow, which I actually found to be a bit disappointing. And they only seemed to sing along for the chorus...
Now, I don't remember if the band started talking before or after the next track, so I'll just put this here now. Also, I'm not too sure of the order of these events---but I know they all happened a bit like this. Maynard said that Iha had a song he wanted to sing for us, so Iha sang a Journey song very quickly. Most of the crowd laughed, but I personally thought it was fucking stupid. I don't know if Maynard just likes picking on Iha or if the band is actually fond of him, but anyway, Billy apologized for the song and then the mic went over to Jeordie. He said, "This is weird. It's like fucking a new girlfriend in front of an old girlfriend." Someone near me pointed out that Marilyn Manson was in the building, and I glanced around and barely caught a glimpse of his top hat in a sealed off area in the back. Later I found out that Dita Von Teese and Tim Skold were there as well, and now I wish I'd stuck around to try and meet Skold... he's one of my number one idols, up there a bit below Danny Lohner.
Weak and Powerless: The performance of this track was pretty true to the studio version, but I was a little disappointed that Maynard's vocals were just as high as they usually are live, despite the lower tones he used on the studio track. The crowd sang along for this entire song, so I assume they listened to it obsessively the way I did when I first got it---and they seemed to best know the last verse, "little angel, go away, come again some other day, the devil has my ear today, I'll never hear a word you say, he promised I would find a little solace and some peace of mind---whatever, just as long as I don't feel so desperate and ravenous, I'm so weak and powerless."
Orestes: A fantastic track. Once again I only paid attention to Jeordie and Billy, who did outstanding jobs. Billy's backup vocals seemed fewer and more far between than they did at previous APC shows I'd watched, which was rather disappointing. It's my personal opinion that APC would be alot better if Billy would sing a few songs on his own.
Rose: More bass heavy than ever. The song was fantastic, despite Maynard's vocals lacking and pulling down its integrity a bit. The crowd was pretty mellow until the end, but the next song made up for that...
Thinking of You: Jeordie took this song over. It was easier to pay attention to his playing than to Maynard's vocals. The crowd finally started moving a bit, and most people sang the song through. This was one of the better renditions of the song I've heard, and this performance helped make it one of my personal favorites.
I believe this is where the crowd went silent because Rev. Maynard started talking. My friends and I started mocking him, and we actually got a rise out of him. We were chanting "maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaynaaaaaaaaaaaaard" in unison to try and get a rise out of him, and he said a few things along the lines of "Alright, who said that? Who did it? Who farted?" (lame). Someone far to the right of us, among a few dozen others, all raised their hands and started screaming "I DID I DID," so Maynard pointed to one of them and said "You did it? Show some fucking respect!" ... I lost a little more respect for his character after this comment, and then lost even more at the next. He said something along the lines of "Fine, you won't get to hear my wit."
The Package: This is a fantastic song, but not the best for a live set. The crowd went dead for the song, since most had never heard it before. I just swayed back and forth, knowing this would be my only chance to relax for a while. The band was fantastic as usual, and Maynard surprised me by performing very well on the song. He even used a vocal style I've never heard him do before, and it sounded something like the singer from Our Lady Peace. When he said the word "I", he pronounced it "I-ee" in a way, and it sounded much better than the version of The Package I'd heard before. My favorite line in this song is definitely "I'd even smile to get what's mine," but most of the crowd seemed to enjoy the darker part in the latter minutes of the song... "Mine, mine, mine... Take... what's... mine..."
3 Libras: This was my favorite song for a long time. And not just by APC. Of all time. And Maynard's vocals were so flat that it just plain sucked. Jeordie and Billy were fantastic as always, but Maynard's vox ruined it. People went nuts, but that was just because of the nostalgia of the song.. the rendition was just aweful. I would have preferred to hear it without any vocals than with Maynard going flat on every single note.
Thomas: This was one of the better songs of the set. The crowd went nuts, the band was perfect, Jeordie's bass helped the song alot, and Maynard was pretty on for it. I was very impressed, and that's difficult to do considering it's one of my favorite songs from Mer De Noms.
I believe this is where Maynard started talking again. I heard my friends simultaneously scream "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE BOX," and I whole-heartedly agreed that he should get down off the fucking pedestal. Maynard ignored it, or didn't hear it, but either way, he went into his speech. "We'll be back in the fall after the new record comes out... it's called Thirteenth Step, and comes out September 16th. When we're back we'll play more new songs, but we're not going to play too many right now since some of you would just put them out on the internet." I felt the need to yell "Fuck you."
The Outsider: By far the highlight of my night. By now I was so close to the front that I was surrounded only by hardcore fans. I sang along with the entire song, and some of them were looking at me like I was insane for knowing the lyrics. I was also going nuts, dancing, slamming and jumping around. My night was complete by the time I heard "IF YOU CHOOSE TO PULL THE TRIGGER, SHOULD YOUR DRAMA PROVE SINCERE, DO IT SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY FROM HERE." After the song was over I jumped a few feet into the air cheering, and unfortunately, someone moved up right behind me so I ended up landing poorly.
The Nurse Who Loved Me: I spent the entirety of this song recovering from that poor landing, so I can't review it too well. What I can tell you is that, if you're a hardcore Failure fan, you'll probably be disappointed with this cover. However, if not, it's a really good song.
Judith: I was just waiting for this song to be over. I never much cared for it, except for Danny Lohner's remix, plus this was the one song alot of people came to see... and yet they stayed relatively mellow. Maynard did a Ticks And Leeches-like growl during the song. It was totally unnecessary, unless he needs the practice to help his voice. The rendition of the song was pretty good, but I don't think Judith will ever impress me too much.
And so the show was over, and the adrenaline was still pumping through me. The person directly in front of me caught Maynard's water bottle, and I was just thinking "Fuck. I wish I'd caught that. I'm so fucking thirsty." I got outside as fast as I could, waited for my friends and we took off. I considered hanging around to wait for the band, but figured it'd just be a waste of my time---Billy's autograph isn't too important to me, and I figured there was no way Manson or Skold would come around while there were still people out there. So my friends and I went to the car and took off. It was definitely worth the $250 or so that I ended up paying between the tickets, gas and tolls. And I'm looking forward to seeing APC again.. I only hope that Maynard chooses to crucify his ego before then.