A PERFECT CIRCLE AT NYC'S HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM: A BIT "PASSIVE"

I was surprised when I saw that A Perfect Circle was touring.  I thought they sort of put the band to rest, mainly because Maynard James Keenan seems more concerned with his winery and his newer group Puscifer, and Tool is still together. But I was glad - I love their debut, 2000's Mer de Noms.

Unfortunately, tonight they didn't play much from that album, concentrating mostly on their third and latest album, 2004's Emotive. That was their album of covers of songs that were inspired by war and peace.  It's actually a cool album with some bold interpretations of some iconic songs, but they don't really take off live.  Oddly enough, they played all the covers on the album, EXCEPT for my two favorites: Devo's "Freedom Of Choice" and Fear's "Let's Have A War." Which left their toy-piano version of Crucifix's "Annihilation," John Lennon's "Imagine," Nick Lowe's "Peace Love and Understanding" (sung by the band's leader, Billy Howerdell), Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," Black Flag's "Gimme Gimme Gimme," Depeche Mode's "People Are People" (much better than the version APC did on the album),  the traditional "When The Levee Breaks" (popularized by Led Zeppelin) and Joni Mitchell's "Fiddle and the Drum." The two best songs on the album, though, were originals, and they both rocked live. "Passive" was supposedly meant for the Tapeworm sideproject (which was to include Trent Reznor, a co-writer on the song), and is one of APC's best moments. And "Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums," a sort of sequel to "Pet" from APC's second album Thirteenth Step. Since they'd never toured for Emotive, this was the first time I'd heard them live and they were amazing.

The show had a few isolated moments like that, but it never really took off.  There were too many slow songs, and not enough from Mer de Noms. Still, the great parts were great: Billy Howerdell is a great guitarist, and of course Maynard is a great presence.  It's hard to call him a "frontman," as he stayed behind the band with no spotlight aimed on him throughout the show. The rest of the band included former Smashing Pumpkins/current Tinted Windows guitarist James Iha, who played on the Thirteenth Step tour, and I think on one of the songs on Emotive. Matt McJunkins (who plays in Billy's other band Ashes Divide, and also Puscifer) played bass, and I'm not sure who was on drums, I'm pretty sure it isn't Josh Freese (who I think is currently with Weezer). But to the band's credit, everyone played like they owned the songs, it wasn't like hired guns at all. I heard that they were doing shows last year where they would play a full album - I'd love to see them do Mer de Noms. Anyway, pretty good show, if you're going to see them (they're playing New York's Beacon Theater later this week), you might want to make sure you dig the songs on Thirteenth Step and Emotive.

PRIMUS: TIM ALEXANDER IS OUT, JAY LANE RETURNS

I saw on the Primusville facebook page (a fan site) that longtime Primus drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander has left the band, for the second time. The guy he originally replaced when he first joined, Jay Lane, is back. Jay also played with Les Claypool in Sausage (which was essentially a reunion of early Primus members Les, Jay and guitarist Todd Huth) and he's played in some of Les' many backing bands. So, now Primus is Les, Jay and Larry "Ler" LaLonde.

I didn't know that Primus was active enough for anyone to join or re-join.  I think the way this news came to light was via Phil Lesh. Jay Lane had been playing in Further, a sort of Grateful Dead-tribute band that includes Dead principals Lesh and Bob Weir: Lane had played with Bob Weir in Ratdog as well. (I think Les may have introduced them: Les played on original Ratdog bassist Rob Wasserman's Trios album and introduced Jay to Rob). Anyway, Phil mentioned on a "Philzone" message board that Jay was leaving Further because he had the opportunity to rejoin Primus. So, I guess that means we can look forward to new Primus... something. I'm sure a tour, but I wonder if they will record again.

Meanwhile, I think Tim Alexander is working with Tool's Maynard James Keenan on his Puscifier project.  I think Tim was originally the drummer in A Perfect Circle.

MAYNARD TO TAKE A BREAK FROM THE VINEYARD; TOOL TO TOUR

I bet Tool fans have been wondering when the band would return to the road or the studio, since frontman Maynard James Keenan has kind of made it known that his winery is his main priority. But they are co-headlining a Colorado festival called Mile High, and their website says that they are going on tour this summer. This is looking to be an expensive summer! 

TODAY ON OUTQ: MORE OF THE CHRIS CORNELL DISCUSSION (PLUS OTHER '90S ARTISTS)

I’ve gotten some feedback from people, both here on No Expiration, in my email box, and in person, about my posts about Chris Cornell’s solo music. I now have three songs, courtesy of iTunes: “Ground Zero,” “Scream” and “Watch Out.” I am starting to like them. Of course it is different from what Chris has done before, but he has the right to try something new.

So that will be the first topic on tomorrow’s OutQ show. As much as Chris wouldn’t like the theme, I’m going with it: ‘90s icons making new music. I’m also talking about Chris’ former Audioslave bandmate Tom Morello, who has just released his second album as The Nightwatchman. When Tom went from Rage/Audioslave to solo acoustic stuff, that was quite a change also, but one people seemed more accepting of (even if The Nightwatchman isn't nearly as popular as the bands he has been in). On his new album, The Fabled City, he rocks a bit more, but it is still really different from Rage/Audioslave. I like, but don’t yet love, his Nightwatchman stuff, but I think he’ll be doing it for decades to come, and I’m sure he’ll keep improving.

I’ll also be talking about Tom’s sometime Rage Against The Machine bandmate, Zack de la Rocha, and his new band, One Day As A Lion. I like their self-titled EP, I don’t love it. It features Zack on keyboards and vocals, but yet sounds very Rage-y.

I’m also talking about Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifier project, which is kind of funny. Most of it is electro-funk/R&B, but he also does some country. Maynard, who has also done stand-up comedy and who owns a winery, is a tough guy to pin down, and I think he likes it that way. Puscifer is nothing like Tool/APC. And finally, The Gutter Twins have just released a digital EP, Adorata, with covers of songs by Jose Gonzalez, Primal Scream and Eleven. Pretty cool stuff.