Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan's side project Puscifer starts its first full North American tour on Thursday night (October 29th) in Las Vegas, where the act did its first live shows earlier in the year. As with the previous gigs, the shows are likely to be cabaret-style performances by a loose collection of musicians, comedians and other artists. The tour comes just as the group prepares to release a new EP on November 10th, titled C Is For (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here).

Puscifer's debut album, V Is For Vagina, came out in the fall of 2007, followed last year by a remix collection titled V Is For Viagra.

Although he has sold millions of records with Tool and A Perfect Circle, Keenan admitted to us a while back that starting over with a brand new outfit is difficult: "It was a much larger challenge for me, you know, really coming out of the box with an unknown thing. Yeah, I could attach the, you know, 'the guy from Perfect Circle and Tool' name to it, but at the end of the day it's still a start-up project and you really are trying to drag a bag of rocks up a muddy hill."

The first leg of the tour will hit the West Coast, with East Coast shows likely to follow in the New Year.

Keenan is also expected to regroup with Tool in 2010 and may even make some new music with A Perfect Circle.

Confirmed Puscifer tour dates (subject to change):
October 29 - Las Vegas, NV - The Pearl (at The Palms)
October 31 - San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre
November 1 - San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre
November 4 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre
November 5 - Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre
November 7 - Stockton, CA - Bob Hope Theatre
November 10 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
November 11 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
November 13 - Vancouver, BC - Centre for Performing Arts
November 14 - Portland, OR - Roseland Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
November 16 - Portland, OR - Roseland Ballroom
November 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - Capitol Theatre
November 20 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
November 21 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
November 24 - Dallas, TX - McFarlin Auditorium
November 25 - Dallas, TX - McFarlin Auditorium
November 27 - Houston, TX - Jones Hall
November 28 - San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theatre
December 1 - El Paso, TX - Plaza Theatre
December 3 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theatre
December 4 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theatre