Puscifer
April 16, 2026
Akron Civic Theatre (Akron, Ohio)
By Rob McCune
Ohio native Maynard James Keenan, frontman for Tool and A Perfect Circle and now Puscifer, was welcomed back to his home state by a small band of Bible-thumpers with megaphones, who prosthelytized outside the Akron Civic Theatre ahead of a show this April.
If the show wasn’t already sold out, or nearly there, the noise itself might’ve drawn a crowd – at least one looking for a show beyond the fray of “normal.”
For “The Normal Isn’t Tour,” experimental, post-industrial rock band Puscifer isn’t trying for anything close to normal.
For starters, this tour is supported by special guest/opener Dave Hill, a Cleveland native comedian, author, and musician known in his social media circles for his anarchist opposition to societal norms, especially as represented by the authoritarian orange traffic cone. Hill exploded onto the stage pushing a bicycle, in a white jumpsuit adorned in vivid patches and helmet. Thrashing about with nunchucks, karate kicks and an electric guitar, he opened with a breathless track about a Caveman in a Spaceship. Starkly lit by a single, blinding spotlight, his set flip-flopped between comedy bits, guitar riffs, and hacking coughs.
Puscifer’s entrance couldn’t have been more different. Keenan and vocalist cohort Carina Round emerged on a scaffold high above the stage – the entire scene like something out of dystopian sci-fi epics like “Blade Runner.” Bringing their distinct style of hardcore, electro-rock, Puscifer’s Keenan, Round and guitarist Mat Mitchell played their parts with reckless abandon. And for 18 songs, with a short intermission, the Akron Civic Theater became a sacrificial altar for rock.
The U.S. tour continues this spring in the Pacific Northwest and on the West Coast. Puscifer goes back on tour starting in November with dates in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Australia.
Follow Rob McCune on Instagram (@Every_Thing_After_Photo) and listen to the “Every.Thing.After Podcast” on Spotify
