Aerial Theater : A Perfect Circle, houston, Houston (US) - Sep 16, 2000

NOTE: This was the third of four "magical" shows that I attended in 2000 which made me fall completely in love with live music!

This was my favorite concert for a few years! Houston had the pleasure of being the last stop on APC's 2000 headliner tour. I had seen the band a few months earlier opening for NIN, but they were nowhere near as polished as they were on this night. By this point in their short existence, they were playing as a band that had truly earned the title of supergroup. A brief history of the band members:

Maynard James Keenan - vocalist for Tool (and future: Puscifer)

Billy Howerdel - guitar tech for Faith No More, Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, NIN, David Bowie, Guns N' Roses (and future: guitar/vocals in Ashes Divide)

Josh Freese - drums in The Vandals, Devo, Guns N' Roses <session drummer on hundreds of records> (and future: NIN, Black Light Burns, Ahes Divide, etc. etc. etc.)

Troy Van Leeuwen - guitar in Failure (and future: Queens of the Stone Age, Enemy)

Paz Lenchantin - bass/violin in The Entrance Band (and future: Zwan, Brightblack Morning Light, Pixies)


The show opened with two females playing strip poker at a little table, and just when they were about to start removing their underwear ... the lights went out and a kid's voice said: "I'd sell my soul, my self esteem, a dollar at a time for one taste of you, my Magdalena. You make me feel like a kid again." Then the band slowly proceeded to melt our faces off as they torched us with massively beautiful songs, one after another after another.

Maynard's performance was insanely awesome! His singing gave me goosebumps. He was front and center, shaking his ass, stomping around. (At every show I've seen him since this one, he's always been posted up towards the back of the stage, on a riser by the drummer.) At one point, during "Thinking of You", he ripped his pants off and performed the rest of the show in his underwear. As he hunched over, repeating the title of the song with the strobes flashing behind him, I coulda swore he was looking right at me man! I know, I know, I'm delusional ... fuck you!

The band sent tingles up my spine that night! Billy and Troy were wailing on guitar and Paz strutted her stuff on bass and violin. During "Renholdër", I noticed that her bass guitar had 'D. Lohner' written on it in white letters. I screamed to my friend, "Check it out! She's playing Danny Lohner's bass for "Renholdër" ... fucking awesome!" [note for the uninitiated: Danny Lohner, former bass player for NIN = Renholdër ... spell it backwards ... Re: D Lohner] Sure enough, before the very next song, Maynard says he has a 'special' guest with the Make-a-Wish Foundation coming onstage to play with them. It was Danny fucking Lohner! He played bass on "3 Libras" while Paz was playing violin. And then, during "Ozzy's Cure", Maynard changed the lyrics of the song to 'Diary of Danny Lohner!' Too fucking cool man!

All in all, it was a spectacular show! The band sent tingles up my spine all night long, and the rest of the crowd was going apeshit too. I'd wager that very few people who witnessed this epic performance left the theater without a huge grin on their face. Mindblowing! Bravo!


1. Magdalena
2. The Hollow
3. Sleeping Beauty
4. Orestes
5. Breña
6. Thomas
7. Thinking of You
8. Rose
9. Renholdër
10. 3 Libras
11. Diary of a Lovesong
12. Over
13. Judith