Live Review : Puscifer + Night Club @ Academy, Manchester on June 13th 2023

Synthwave seems to be slowly embedding itself into the world of Rock & Metal these past few years. A relatively new genre of music that draws influence from both the music & neon lit cyberpunk-esque iconography of Sci-Fi and Horror Films of the 1980’s, it has been brought to the forefront of public consciousness by acclaimed acts such as Perturbator and Carpenter Brut. Another act who has made a name off Synthwave over the past 10 years or so are tonight's openers, Night Club. Formed in 2012 by Metalocalypse writer and director, Mark Brooks and Vocalist Emily Kavanaugh, the Los Angeles based duo tick all of the expected tropes of the Synthwave Genre.  

Their music is full to the brim of the quintessential, stabbing, bass led grooves; cascading synths that are layered to perfection adding a dimension that evokes a sense of escalation all carried along by an industrial element that is not to dissimilar to something you’d expect to find from titans of the genre such as Rammstein or Nine Inch Nails. Through their music, Night Club have nailed the idea of transporting their audience on a sonic journey to an illegal underground rave you may find in films such as Blade Runner. There is sheer dedication to atmosphere conjured through the iconography found in the synthwave genre and as a concept in a live setting, I found this mightily impressive.  

In the time between Night Club finishing and the nights headliners, Puscifer, taking to the stage, security made an asserted effort to make sure that every single reveller inside the Manchester Academy was aware of the evening’s strict, No Cameras, No Phone policy. Whilst potentially considered unreasonable, and an attitude befitting that of a sense of entitlement from the band, I found this concept extremely refreshing. All too often you find yourself watching concerts through the phone screen of the person in front of you and for me, this takes away from the sense of immersion you expect when you come to a concert. With this concept in mind, I’m going to keep the finer details and concepts Puscifer brought to the stage tonight under wraps, to protect the integrity of the show for those who want to experience it themselves with an open mind. 

Of his three projects, Puscifer can probably be considered the wackiest of Maynard James Keenans. In terms of a live performance, they are the complete antithesis of Tool, in which Keenan tends to keep himself to the back of the stage, facing away from the audience. With Puscifer, he is very much front and centre and allows himself to show off a bit more of his credentials as a showman and entertainer.  

Taking to the stage dressed in full Men In Black attire, Puscifer waste no time in showcasing songs from their latest album, “Existential Reckoning”, performing 8 songs in a row, all of which have their own personalities and characteristics that perfectly fit the concept of the live show Puscifer set out to achieve. Personal highlights from this run of tracks included ‘Fake Affront’, with it’s ever changing time signatures and perfectly complimentary vocal arrangement between Keenan and co lead vocalist Carina Round. ‘Grey Area’ aswell showcased the impeccable vocal performance that would be a common theme throughout the night. Round & Keenan prove themselves to be a dual threat of vocals that add their own individual dimension to each song whilst neither are fighting to be considered the core “front person” of Puscifer. Keenans now signature vocal style, in which he as able to cut through mightily impressive musical passages like a hot night through butter is truly a sight to behold. He has this natural, free flowing ability to simultaneously stand out from, as well as intertwine himself in the music behind him, in a way that I'm actually struggling to describe as I just find it that bewildering as a concept. When combined with the incredibly unique harmonies of ‘Round’, the vocals act as another dimension of the sound that Puscifer set out to achieve.  

You’d need a first-class degree in Music to be able to effectively break down and interpret Puscifer as a band, of which I do not, so instead in order to effectively communicate what I consider a Puscifer show to be, and my thoughts and opinions of this, I'll instead have to opt on how it made me feel instead. And to put It quite simply, I was stunned. This wasn’t just a musical performance. This was Music, Theatre, Comedy, Film and Art, all bundled into a 120-minute showcase that not only had the audience wondering what song was next, but also where we’d be taken to next. Again, I'm not going into too much detail on this concept, to protect the integrity of the show and avoid spoilers, but the audience truly felt like a piece of the show, in a way I'd never felt before. Sure, you have the high dramatics of bands such as Rammstein or elements of audience participation in many shows that forms a connection between artist and punter, but with Puscifer, you were dragged into their world without being explicitly told so whether you liked it or not.  

This will go down as being one of the more memorable, unique and batshit crazy shows I've seen in recent memory and Puscifer, as an experience, is something that all Metal fans, even just music fans in general, should set out to experience at least once in their lifetime. You won’t be disappointed 

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Puscifer, Night Club