Sessanta V2.0 brings A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and Primus to Pittsburgh

Much like the reds, whites and rosés bottled at his Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards in Arizona, Maynard James Keenan is aging like a fine wine.

The enigmatic singer, who fronts progressive metal giants Tool as well as A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, launched Sessanta — which means 60 in Italian — last year to celebrate his 60th birthday, with A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and Primus all performing on the trek.

The party for Keenan, now 61, continued Tuesday night when Sessanta V2.0 — with the same three bands and Keenan doing double duty — hit Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

The night began with several reminders about the phone-free experience of the show, including a humorous video featuring Keenan that claimed phone policy violators would be ground up into the mystery meat known as Spam. And after the first song, he addressed the subject again, promising to allow photos and videos of the last song.

“Stay with us. Stay present. Stay connected,” Keenan said. “It’s only three hours. You can do it.”

The show seemingly benefited from the absence of screen lights throughout the arena, with the stage kept purposefully dark to allow the lighting to set a mood. This wasn’t a standard concert — with an opener, a middle act and the headliner — by any means. Sessanta features three acts, with each band playing a couple songs during each act, and bands sharing members occassionally. Three drum kits sat on top of a giant riser, with a staircase on each side, to allow for smooth transitions between the bands.

A Perfect Circle, the alt metal band started by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Keenan, might have had the most audience anticipation because, other than last year’s Sessanta dates, they hadn’t toured since 2018. Starting with a pummeling (and still lyrically relevant) “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums,” they continued with “Disillusioned” — a rallying cry against screen obsession — and “Blue.” Keenan’s voice remains strong, especially considering some of the throat-tearing screams of some Tool songs.

Primus brought their weird, plunky groove metal up next for three songs that sound like nothing else out there. Bassist Les Claypool tapped and slapped on his bass while singing in his his twangy, spoken word style.

Puscifer, which Keenan has described as an avenue to explore his “creative subconscious,” closed out Act I with a trio of songs — “Man Overboard,” “Horizons” and “Indigo Children” — that saw Keenan and vocalist Carina Round matching poses and dance moves from across the stage, as well as blending harmonies together.

Related

• 2025 Pittsburgh area concert calendar
• Pearl Jam shows off impressive versatility in sold-out Pittsburgh concert
• Baroness frontman John Baizley on revisiting 'Red' and 'Blue' albums for tour coming to Pittsburgh

Act II began with Primus again, this time joined on the steps by Keenan and Round, with both providing backup vocals for “Little Lord Fentanyl,” Primus’ first song with new drummer John Hoffman. A lilting “Welcome to This World” led to the thumping “My Name is Mud,” which had to be restarted, leading Claypool to warn Keenan this comes with aging.

“I want to apologize for my elbow brace getting in the way,” quipped Claypool, also 61.

Primus finished off their mini-set with a chunky “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver,” with Keenan taking it all in right next to the drums. (Throughout the night, members of all three bands could be spotted atop the riser, enjoying the show.)

Puscifer returned for four songs, with even more synchronized dancing and spins from Keenan and Round, A Perfect Circle band members playing ping pong on stage mid-song and a race of chair lifts up the stairs, highlighted musically by the throbbing “Bullet Train to Iowa” as well as “The Algorithm,” a more on-the-nose takedown of Internet culture and “social mediots.”

A look at the stage setup for Sessanta V2.0 at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh with A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and Primus + a look at the merch

[image or embed]

— Mike Palm (@mikepalm.bsky.social) May 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM

When A Perfect Circle returned, they blasted through “The Contrarian” with drummer Josh Freese going hard — maybe he was taking out his frustrations after being dismissed by Foo Fighters last week? “The Doomed” started with Primus’ drummer Hoffman, ending with all three drummers at the same time. “Weak and Powerless” saw Keenan and Howerdel sharing harmonies, with the powerful ending of “The Outsider” creating the biggest stir yet.

An intermission included a 10-minute video of Keenan as an aging hospital patient cracking corny jokes before Act III.

Puscifer began the home stretch with “The Humbling River,” which had two drummers, plus Claypool on upright electric cello. “Polar Bear” came before “The Remedy,” which included a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots battle between Keenan and Round as they sang “you speak like someone who has never been knocked the (expletive) out.”

Primus returned for “Pablo’s Hippos” — off the “Sessanta E.P.P.P.” — and a stomping “Too Many Puppies,” which had the heads bobbing.

With a starry light show, A Perfect Circle unloaded a thick version of “The Noose” before hitting “Kindred” and closing with their biggest hit, “Judith,” which reinvigorated the crowd as Keenan unleashed his most Tool-like vocals of the night.

Primus ostensibly was in the penultimate spot, with all three drummers jamming away on “Southbound Pachyderm,” with Claypool’s mirror ball helmet sparkling into the crowd and Keenan banging away on a cowbell.

“And that is how you turn 61,” Keenan said. “Share the stage with some of the best musicians on the planet.”

All three bands were on stage for the finale of Puscifer’s “Grand Canyon,” with phones pulled from pockets to capture the closing moments of the celebration.

A Perfect Circle, Puscifer and Primus take the stage together to close out their Pittsburgh stop of Sessanta V2.0 on May 20 pic.twitter.com/te3EfsM0rr

— Mike Palm (@MikePalmMedia) May 21, 2025