Surrendering to the gravity and the unknown

I've been eagerly waiting to finally see A Perfect Circle, the rock project headed by Maynard James Keenan from Tool and their guitar tech Billy Howerdel, but I've tried to curb my enthusiasm, because as brilliant as the three albums are (I don't count the cover and remix albums "aMOTION" and "eMOTIVe" as real albums, partly because of the silly titles), I've had a nagging feeling that they might get way too creative and self-indulgent and forget to just play their music. And we're talking about a daytime show at the main stage – we run the risk of a shitty, chattering crowd ruining everything.

Getting a nice place to stand close to the stage is easy, and the front booth keeps being thinly populated throughout the concert. I don't know if I should feel lucky that we're not getting crushed by crowdsurfers like at Tool two years ago or disappointed that people aren't more interested in APC. Oh well, their loss.

And what a loss it is, because from the first notes of "The Package", it is obvious that we're in for a treat. The sound is crystal clear. Every single bass note bend, every perfectly controlled guitar effect and every spectral percussion hit is heard and felt. I have no idea what the Copenhell people are doing right this year, but the sound for every single show has been miles ahead of previous years. Maybe they brought in a tri-wired DB-19X in an ANZA configuration and ran it through the ass of a fairy at 8 ohms. In any case, much appreciated.

As Maynard chants "I choose to li-i-iiiive", the hairs on my arms stand up while I'm trying to hold back tears – all with a wide smile on my face.

The band is performing at an ungodly level. It feels like we're right next to them. At pretty much every rock show, even I, sloshed as I may be, notice a few mistakes or imperfections, but not here. The musicianship is absolutely immaculate throughout the concert.

"The Package" is a quirky opener on "Thirteenth Step" ('03), and even more so in a live setting. But at that four-minute mark when the massive, distorted guitars kick in, any skepticism left in me disappears faster than Grindr's bandwidth at a Republican convention. And speaking of the elephant party, APC treat us with a duo of songs from their excellent 2018-album, "Eat the Elephant".

"Disillusioned" deals with our addiction to technology and social media, and I naturally use the opportunity to pull out my phone for a few photos. "The Doomed", my favourite off that record, takes the Sermon on the Mount and twists it into the morality of the Republican Jesus:

"Blessed are the rich
May we labour, deliver them more
Blessed are the envious
Bless the slothful, the wrathful, the vain
Blessed are the gluttonous
May they feast us to famine and war"

It is uncharacteristically straight words from Maynard, and I love it. And there's no one ruining neither the fragile beauty nor the bursts of rage as the crowd is quiet when supposed to be quiet and rocking out. I hear from others that they had the show ruined by people talking, and I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe we got lucky, or maybe you need to join us close to the stage? That's where the magic happens, you know? I've never heard of anyone regretting being close to where it's happening. Well, maybe some Pearl Jam fans, but at least most of them have a great story to tell.

Right, back to the review. There's more of the stuff that we all want: The filthy bass lines on "Rose" from the brilliant first album "Mer De Noms" ('00) sound almost contorted, and as a perfect complement we get the heartbreaking "Gravity", the final song off the addiction-themed "Thirteenth Step". As Maynard chants "I choose to li-i-iiiive", the hairs on my arms stand up while I'm trying to hold back tears – all with a wide smile on my face. At this point I'm thinking that they can't possibly strike any closer to my heart, but fuck me, they pull out their finest song of them all: "Orestes".

I can't describe my love for this song, and I can't believe we're so lucky that this is one of the few times they've played it on this tour. The vocal harmonies are exceptional. But as much as I want to loudly sing "Cut away, clear away / Snip away and sever this / Umbilical residue / Keeping me from killing you", I'm just mouthing the words. I don't wanna ruin it for myself or others by adding my voice to the mix. Go listen to it, and tell me that isn't one of the most beautiful songs you've ever heard. It hits particularly hard if you happen to have mommy issues like the Orestes of myth who wound up vengefully killing his mom.

It's almost too much to take, and so I practically zone out for another attack on Republican Jesus, "TalkTalk". I'm knocked out of my trance by what almost sounds like the masterpiece "3 Libras". But it's not the real "3 Libras". Instead, APC decide to flip everyone the bird and perform the awful "All Main Courses" version from "aMOTION". This is exactly what I feared from this show. Why, oh why? No one – NO ONE – likes this. If you need an intermission – and I sure could use one – do an intermission; don't mock us with this butchering of a beloved song. Knowing the seven-minute duration of this sacrilege, I go and buy a handful of beers for my companions, so I couldn't tell you if there were any redeeming qualities to this bizarre choice.

Every single bass note bend, every perfectly controlled guitar effect and every spectral percussion hit is heard and felt.

Following that disastrous detour, we get back on track with a song that is musically complicated but accessible as a listener: "The Outsider". This one's got to hit hard with anyone who has ever struggled with depression and faced the condescension of others. There's so much self-righteous rage and so little empathy present, and Maynard conjures up screams so raw, yet controlled, that I'm fucking shaking.

"Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" is a poor man's Nine Inch Nails on record, but blasted out live and loud, it works pretty well. And they have the time for this 8-minute tune (though I believe they did shorten it), because APC have 75 minutes to play. That's not the full show, sure, but at least it's the minimum I will accept from a major band at a festival. I hope that we will never again have the awful experience of a band being cut off from their greatest songs after 60 minutes. And yes, I am thinking of Bruce Dickinson at Copenhell two years ago. If you book a band that has songs to play, let them fucking play.

Anyway, "Counting Bodies..." is still a bit of an intermission, but at least this time, it's not insulting. The following, mellow "Blue" feels out of place at this point in the show, especially considering that we're getting neither "The Hollow" nor "Magdalena". The same can be said for the new single, "Starless", a well-composed, kinda proggy tune that gets a nice reaction from the audience, but playing it second-to-last is a peculiar choice. Still, since the band aren't complete tools (DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!?), we get their most straight-up rocker and first single, "Judith", at the end. Howling, distorted guitars and Keenan, Howerdel and the crowd screaming "Fuck your god!" I'm just glad that the lyrics are smarter in context. It's a perfect end to a stellar concert, though I do have to deduct half a grade-point because of the "3 Libras" farce.

Rating: 5 out of 6

Genre: Alternative hard rock
Venue: Copenhell, Helviti Stage
Date: Fri., June 26th, 2026

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Setlist:

1. The Package
2. Weak and Powerless
3. Disillusioned
4. The Doomed
5. Rose
6. Gravity
7. Orestes
8. TalkTalk
9. 3 Libras (All Main Courses mix)
10. The Outsider
11. Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums
12. Blue
13. Starless
14. Judith