A Perfect Circle have played their first UK shows in eight years, and used the sets to break out new single ‘Starless’ for the first time and air out some old favourites.
The gigs took place on Wednesday (June 3) and Thursday (June 4), and marked the first two dates of the band’s first UK and European tour dates since 2018 when they toured in support of their fourth album ‘Eat The Elephant’.
Just days before the tour began, the supergroup – which includes guitarist Billy Howerdel, singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Puscifer) and drummer Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, ex-Foo Fighters) – dropped the epic single ‘Starless’, and used the new shows to give it a live debut.
At both London dates, the band kicked things off with ‘The Package’ and ‘Disillusioned’, before following things up with ‘The Contrarian’, ‘The Doomed’, ‘Weak And Powerless’ and ‘Rose’.
Keenan also took time during the set to remind the audience that the show was going to be entirely phone-free, barring the last song where they would make the exception. “Keep it in your pocket,” he said, urging the crowd to be “present” and “in the moment” with them, ignoring everything going on “outside of these walls”. The approach is the same as what a singer does when touring with Tool.
At night one, the band broke out ‘Kindred’ from their collaborative 2024 EP, ‘Sessanta E.P.P.P.’, and their cover of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ which featured on their third album ‘Emotive’. On night two, they mixed things up, swapping those two for ‘Thirteenth Step’ track ‘Gravity’ and ‘Mer De Noms’ song ‘Orestes’ – both of which haven’t been played since 2018 according to Setlist.fm.
Other tracks on both setlists included ‘3 Libras’, ‘TalkTalk’, ‘The Outsider’ and ‘Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums’, before closing things out with new single ‘Starless’ and fan favourite ‘Judith’.
For night two, the band made an exception to their rule about being only allowed to film the final song – saying that they audience can “go on then” and film the last two on the setlist.
Check out both setlists below, as well footage from each night.
A Perfect Circle London night one setlist was:
‘The Package’
‘Disillusioned’
‘The Contrarian’
‘The Doomed’
‘Weak and Powerless’
‘Rose’
‘Kindred’
‘Imagine’ (John Lennon cover) (First time since 2018)
‘TalkTalk’
‘The Outsider’
‘Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums’
‘The Noose’
‘Starless’ (Live Debut)
‘3 Libras (All Main Courses Mix)’
‘Judith’
The night two setlist was:
‘The Package’
‘Disillusioned’
‘The Contrarian’
‘The Doomed’
‘Weak and Powerless’
‘Rose’
‘Blue’
‘Gravity’ (First time since 2018)
‘Orestes’ (First time since 2018)
‘TalkTalk’
‘3 Libras (All Main Courses Mix)’
‘The Outsider’
‘Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums’
‘The Noose’
‘Starless’
‘Judith’
Following the two UK dates, A Perfect Circle will play headline shows at venues across Zurich, Paris, Berlin and more, as well as making festival appearances at Rock Werchter, NOS Alive, Rock AM Ring and Mad Cool.
From there, they’ll join forces with Puscifer at the end of the year for a joint tour across South America, Australia and Japan. Keenan will return to the UK in November for a headline tour with Puscifer too. Visit here for tickets to A Perfect Circle dates and here for Puscifer tickets.
In February, Maynard James Keenan spoke to NME about his time balancing three bands, as well as running his own wine company Caduceus Cellars – and explained whether the busy schedule has led to him wanting any downtime away from touring commitments.
“You only live twice, so I have to – I don’t want to say, ‘Strike while the iron’s hot’ because that sounds like such a Wall Street trader douchebag statement – but when you have the inspiration in front of you, and if you have the energy, you should listen and respond to it. I don’t really see any reason why you shouldn’t,” he said.
“Things are still coming out when they’re ready. Not before they’re ready. So if you just accept that this is your life […] then you just take it day by day. When you need the break, that’s when you take it.”
He also opened up about if he had considered bringing his ‘Sessanta’ tour – a three-way headline tour with A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and Primus – over to the UK after seeing the huge response from fans in the US.
“I’ve thought about it, and I think we tried, but the problem with bringing something like that over to Europe and the UK is the expense,” he explained. “It’s pretty expensive to do and it is cost-prohibitive because all three bands are splitting everything three ways, including expenses. I want to bring it over, but also I feel like Puscifer, A Perfect Circle and Primus all need to come up with a new album, or a new set of songs, or just something to make it more appealing to do it again.”
