Primus Sucks in Toronto at Sessanta V2.0

jaybroderick
May 25
5 min read

By: Jay Broderick

Toronto, Canada - On April 17, 2024, alternative music icon Maynard Keenan James turned 60 years old. To celebrate, he took his bands A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer on the road, along with legends Primus, and embarked on a tour that they titled Sessanta. If you're Italian, you'll know that this means "60". If you're not Italian, now you know! The tour was such a success, that the trio of bands chose to do it again in 2025, this time, celebrating Maynard's 61st birthday. Aptly titled "Sessanta V2.0", the 2025 version started in Palm Springs, CA on April 24th, and on May 22, the tour came through Toronto, officially kicking off the summer as the first show for Budweiser Stage in 2025.

Sessanta V2.0 was unlike any concert I have ever seen. This was a "NO CAMERA'S (INCLUDING CELL PHONES)" show. I've been to comedy gigs where they lock your phone in a neoprene bag, but in this case, they simply expected the fans to put their phones in their pockets and leave them there. The penalty for not following the rules? Ejection from the venue. And this was serious! Signs were posted all over the place, a prerecorded message played through the speaker system every 10 minutes, and security guards strolled up and down the aisles, including the Tour Manager who was a big, mean looking dude, policing the venue to make sure everybody was in line. I get it! Artists want the crowd to be engaged, in the moment, paying attention to the show on the stage... but how was I possibly going to make notes for this review???

Maynard Keenan James performs live in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick

When the lights went down, the whole Amphitheatre got up on their feet. PURE LOVE from this guy! As A Perfect Circle made their presence on stage to start the show, a cupcake, complete with candle was brought to Maynard. He blew out the candle, and passed the dessert to a fan in the front row. As he got to his microphone, he checked his watch and proclaimed "I thought this was May??" You see, it was a mere 10 degress Celsius, and colder by the Lake Ontario waters. It certainly felt more like November than it did May. Maynard clearly felt it, as did a number of the heavily bundled up fans. Then the birthday boy immediately apologized for his country, went into his spiel regarding his no phones policy and with the formalities out of the way, "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" greeted our ear drums. Sessanta V2.0 was officially underway.

But unlike every other concert I ever saw, the so-called opening act only played 3 tracks, and seamlessly, Primus took the stage. "Here Come the Bastards"... both literally and figuratively. After Primus's second track, bassist extraordinaire Les Claypool, with his patented (not literally) hoppy dance steps and top hat burst into "Hey-Hi, Hey-Hi-Ho, the best man in Ottawa was Mufferaw Joe", and then went into their next song "Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread". Don't ask me why, but a huge amount of pride washed over me. You see, that opening ditty was a Stompin' Tom Connors song. A musical legend here in Canada, I didn't fathom the boys from Primus knew this. Man... so proud!!

Now, after Primus's 3rd song, Puscifer made their way on stage for their opening track, "Man Overboard". and this was the premise of the show. With 3 drum kits high above the stage, the 3 bands switched in and out, often hanging around towards the back of the stage while each band took front stage. Sometimes, they even joined in on the action, providing supporting vocals or whatever. What a bloody brilliant concept.

Les Claypool of Primus performs live in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick

During Primus's second appearance (to start Act II), Claypool shares their involvement in the tour. "We got a call from Maynard to do this last year" the bassist shares. "We loved it! And did it again this year. It's so much fun, despite it being cold as hell. But the fun makes it hot!"

There's nothing quite like the intimacy of a small venue, but damn, the huge sound from a big venue is unmatched. Each of the bands tonight sounded so big. And the lighting was superb! During "Jerry Was a Racecar Driver", the lights were shooting up like machinegun fire. Even during Puscifer's time on stage at one point, the lights resembled huge candles, burning in the dark.

Another unexperienced phenomenon for this show, on a business level, was the photography. Typically, we shoot the first 3 songs of each act. But because each band flowed on and off the stage throughout the 3 hour event, we were only permitted to shoot the last song... Puscifer's 6 minute "Grand Canyon". Coincidentally (or perhaps not), it was at this moment that the audience was allowed to "take out their stupid cell phones". During this last offering, all 3 bands appeared on the stage at the same time. While I previously noted that the lighting was superb, I meant this purely as a fan. For a photographer, the lighting sucked! And not in the same way that Primus sucks. It was terrible. Very dark, and foggy. It was mentioned amongst us 4 or 5 photographers there, that if you don't want photography at your shows, simply don't approve media requests. It would save a lot of effort on everybody's part.

I'll add one last tidbit. While I was watching the show, there were 2 dudes in front of me that didn't shut the fuck up during the whole show. The prerecorded message proclaiming "NO CAMERA'S (INCLUDING CELL PHONES)" that played ahead of the show's start claimed that this was as a courtesy to the bands, and the fans around you. But for my money, I'd rather a dude holding his phone up all night, rather than listen to 2 inconsiderate morons talking the whole time.

Sessanta V2.0 at Budweiser Stage in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick

Set List

Act I

A Perfect Circle

Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums (A Perfect Circle song)

Disillusioned (A Perfect Circle song)

Blue (A Perfect Circle song)

Primus

Here Come the Bastards (Primus song)

Groundhog's Day (Primus song)

Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread (Primus song) (Prefaced by Les singing "Mufferaw Joe" (Stompin' Tom))

Puscifer

Man Overboard (Puscifer song)

Horizons (Puscifer song)

Indigo Children (Puscifer song)

Act II:

Primus

Little Lord Fentanyl (Primus song, with Maynard James Keenan and Carina Round)

Welcome to This World (Primus song)

My Name Is Mud (Primus song)

Jerry Was a Race Car Driver (Primus song)

Puscifer

Postulous (Puscifer song)

No Angel (Puscifer song)

Bullet Train to Iowa (Puscifer song)

The Algorithm (Puscifer song)

A Perfect Circle

The Contrarian (A Perfect Circle song, with Carina Round)

The Doomed (A Perfect Circle song, with Carina Round and John Hoffman)

Weak and Powerless (A Perfect Circle song)

The Outsider (A Perfect Circle song)

Act III:

Puscifer

The Humbling River (Puscifer song, with John Hoffman)

Polar Bear (Puscifer song, with John Hoffman)

The Remedy (Puscifer song)

Primus

Pablo's Hippos (Primus song, with Maynard James Keenan)

Too Many Puppies (Primus song)

A Perfect Circle

The Noose (A Perfect Circle song)

Kindred (A Perfect Circle song)

Judith (A Perfect Circle song)

Primus

Southbound Pachyderm (Primus song)

All 3 Bands

Grand Canyon (Puscifer song)

From a business standpoint, Sessanta V2.0 was easily the worst experience I have ever had. But as a fan, it was incredible! The big sound, amazing light show, the stage setup, and the idea behind all 3 bands interchanging throughout the show. The fans were on their feet and cheered like crazy all night. It was amazing!! It just may go down as one of the 10 best shows I've ever seen. And Primus sucked!!! At the end of the day, that's all that matters!

Concert Photo Gallery