NASHVILLE |
A PERFECT CIRCLE
JOIN FORCES WITH THE BIKINI BANDITS FOR CURRENT VIDEO
“THE OUTSIDER”
AND DVD
‘LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE’
DUE MAY 4;
BAND IN MIDST OF NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINING ARENA TOUR
A PERFECT CIRCLE have seized the airwaves with “The Outsider,” marking the second Top 10 Modern Rock hit from their critically acclaimed worldwide million-selling THIRTEENTH STEP album, while the song’s eye-popping video starring the Bikini Bandits is spinning on the adventurous Fuse video network. Co-directed by Steven Grasse of the famed Bikini Bandits films and web series, and Mark Kohr (No Doubt, Alanis Morissette, Primus), the video lampoons the corporatization of America as well as the growing clampdown on free speech (check out the animated finale where executives at the so-called Vagina Records express dismay over the video).
The extended and unedited version of “The Outsider” video will be in stores May 4 when A PERFECT CIRCLE release the LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE DVD, which includes bonus previews for the upcoming Bikini Bandits feature films The Golden Rod and Bikini Bandits Save Christmas.
“The Outsider” video follows the Bikini Bandits, a menacing gang of four bikini-clad girls who get paroled from jail, wreak havoc in complacent suburbia and raid a convenience store owned by the fictitious corporate conglomerate G-Mart, before winding up back in the slammer.
A PERFECT CIRCLE has a history with the Bikini Bandits. The band has provided music for their films and vocalist MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN played “Satan” in The Bikini Bandits Experience. MAYNARD also voiced “Father Christmas” in the upcoming animated film Bikini Bandits Save Christmas.
On the current tour presented by Fuse, A PERFECT CIRCLE–MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN (vocals), BILLY HOWERDEL (guitars), JEORDIE OSBOURNE WHITE (bass), JAMES IHA (guitars) and JOSH FREESE (drums)–are earning an array of rave reviews for their performances which mix songs from the band’s 1.5-million selling 2000 debut Mer De Noms and THIRTEENTH STEP. In a Los Angeles Times profile (March 31, 2004), writer Dean Kuipers opined that the new album “conjures a more cerebral presence–vaguely untrustworthy, slippery, human, like something glimpsed by moonlight.”
Here are some critical soundbites from the road:
“Amid a twinkling enchanted-forest stage set, they unload great washes of traumatized 6/8 solitude and reflection over a spine of bleak tribalism, Billy Howerdel’s chiming-siren guitar frostings the only light in their metallic tunnel….Vocalist Maynard James Keenan…delivers mournful melodies…The current APC lineup–with Jeordie White’s menacing bass lines, James Iha’s effected six-string treatments and über-drummer Josh Freese’s articulate and impassioned patterns–is more coherent than the original incarnation, and it says a great deal about the strength of their material that they can hold an audience with a headlining “greatest hits” set after just two albums.”
–Paul Rogers, LA WEEKLY, April 15, 2004
“A PERFECT CIRCLE was in perfect stride, particularly Keenan’s voice, which has to be one of the best in rock today. Likewise, Howerdel’s Fripp-like guitar work was spine tingling and clear…based on Wednesday’s sold-out show [at Long Beach Arena]. A PERFECT CIRCLE is a legitimate contender and should be recognized as a stand-alone band.”
–Erik Hamilton, Orange County Register, April 9, 2004
“Keenan takes a music form that has become as predictable as beer-soaked fans in the front row and the mosh pit in the middle, and it turns it upside down. The singer stands in the rear of the stage, unlit or behind a curtain, the most unlikely position for a rock frontman. Then there are banks of lights behind the stage, shining into the eyes of the audience. Just when you thought you’d seen everything done on an arena stage, here was another reversal. In an era when celebrity is as, or more, important than art, here was a self-deprecating performer shoving his fans’ faces into the music. The band has added two members: former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha, whose guitar cast tentative shimmering spider webs, smoothing out the harsh lines; and former Marilyn Manson member Jeordie White, a.k.a. Twiggy Ramirez, whose bass lines were thick and lyrical.”
–Brad Kava, San Jose Mercury News, April 7, 2004
“With Thursday’s performance, Keenan and his cronies proved that A PERFECT CIRCLE is not a side project, but a strong, talented band that stands alone.”
—Sam Vicchrilli, Salt Lake Tribune, March 20, 2004
“Newer creations, such as the obsessive ‘Pet’ and foreboding ‘The Noose‘ were received with as much enthusiasm as such older compositions as the raging ‘Three Libras‘ and explosive ‘Thomas.’ Keenan’s frantic and paranoid voice burst through the walls of notes played by the band. White’s bass rumbled and highlighted Freese’s precision-sniper drumming. Both Howerdel and Iha shared rhythm and lead duties, but for the most part, Howerdel took most of the leads with haunting and powerful pentatonic-scale fingering. Iha, formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins, rose to the occasion and chugged out rhythmic blasts that climaxed with intense fire, before bowing out to make way for Keenan’s shouts.”
— Scott Iwasaki, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City),
March 20, 2004
The current A PERFECT CIRCLE tour dates are:
DATE CITY VENUE
Tue 4/20 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theater
Thu 4/22 Toronto, ONT Ricoh Center
Fri 4/23 Cleveland, OH Tower City Amphitheater
Sat 4/24 Detroit, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
Mon 4/26 Rochester, NY Blue Cross Arena
Tue 4/27 Philadelphia, PA Tweeter Center
Wed 4/28 Wilkes-Barre, PA Wachovia Arena
Fri 4/30 Worcester, MA Centrum Center
Sat 5/1 Holmdel, NJ PNC Arts Center
Sun 5/2 Fairfax, VA (DC) Patriot Center
Tue 5/4 Hershey, PA Giant Center
Wed 5/5 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
Thu 5/6 Atlantic City, NJ Mark Etess Arena
Fri 5/7 Uniondale, NY Nassau Collesium
Sun 5/9 Glens Falls, NY Civic Center
Mon 5/10 Augusta, ME Civic Center
Wed 5/12 Norfolk, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Thu 5/13 Raleigh, NC RBC Center
Fri 5/14 Charlotte, NC Cricket Arena
Sat 5/15 Atlanta, GA Gwinnett Arena
Thu 5/20 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live
Fri 5/21 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Amphitheater
Sat 5/22 Ft. Meyers, FL Teco Arena
Mon 5/24 Jackson, MS Jackson Coliseum
Tue 5/25 Dallas, TX NextStage
Wed 5/26 Little Rock, AR Alltel Arena
Thu 5/27 New Orleans, LA UNO Arena
Sat 5/29 Houston, TX Woodlands Amphitheatre
Sun 5/30 Corpus Christi, TX Concrete Street Amphitheatre
Mon 5/31 Austin, TX Frank Irwin Center
Thu 6/3 Las Vegas, NV The Joint
Fri 6/4 Las Vegas, NV The Joint
Sat 6/5 Universal City, CA Universal Amphitheatre
Sun 6/6 San Jose, CA San Jose Event Center
Tue 6/8 Tucson, AZ Anselmo Valencia Amphitheatre
Thu 6/10 Tulsa, OK Expo Square Pavilion
Fri 6/11 Wichita, KS Kansas Coliseum
Sat 6/12 Col. Springs, CO City Auditorium
Sun 6/13 Denver, CO Red Rocks
Contacts:
MSO/818-380-0400
Libby Henry Lhenry@msopr.com ext. 224
Kristine Ashton-Magnuson Kashton@msopr.com ext. 233
Mitch Schneider Mschneider@msopr.com ext. 235
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