A Perfect Circle

London, Brixton 02 Academy

Leading from the back. For all the almighty racket they make, there’s something deliciously subtle about A Perfect Circle. While they may not be rewriting the live rule book on this three-date tour, which comprises their first UK dates in 14 years, they’re mischievously tinkering with it.

On the second night of their two Brixton sell-out shows, singer Maynard James Keenan perches atop a swaying podium at the back of the stage. He’s shrouded in shadow – he even has his own cloud of dry ice at various points – and beyond the occasional aside (“If I had a heart, it would be weeping”), he’s not overly chatty.

Yet while Keenan may not actually be at the front, he’s an utterly compelling frontman, cavorting like a feral cat when the going gets thrashy on 3 Libras. He pulls giant, wraith-like shapes on the glacial opener Eat The Elephant and the harmony-laden, unashamedly poppy So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish.

In front of him, super-tight Billy Howerdel and Matt McJunkins lay layer upon layer of guitars, keyboards and vocal harmonies over Keenan’s part-howl, part-croon on an almost unrecognisable assault on Depeche Mode’s People Are People, before they finish with blistering versions The Package and Feathers.

As the band exit, Howerdel slumps to his knees in supplication and thanks. They’ll be conquering arenas in December.