Selling out 20 Monroe Live on its current U.S. tour, Primus trotted out its trippy lyrics, psychedelic guitars and even some jam-band vibes for an approving crowd. (Review, photo gallery)
Primus Power: Les Claypool led the alt-rock band during a sold-out show at 20 Monroe Live on Saturday night. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Primus fans know the story of the time frontman and bass wizard Les Claypool tried out for Metallica back in the 1980s, when the band was holding auditions to replace deceased bassist Cliff Burton. Allegedly, Claypool was so good that they turned him away.
Nothing of Note: Except a sold-out Primus show, of course. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
The real story, Claypool has clarified in interviews, is that the Metallica guys thought he was too much of a weirdo and an ill fit for the band, which makes a lot more sense. Because … can you imagine Metallica with a bass player who sounds like Charles Mingus and Frank Zappa doing acid together?
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Actually, that might have been awesome.
But Claypool, obviously, did all right for himself anyhow.
Back in the early 1990s, when major labels were throwing money at any “alternative” rock band that might produce a novelty hit, the spotlight found something truly original in Primus, which was basically all novelty: Claypool’s thunderous slap-bass, playfully trippy lyrics, psychedelic guitars and inexhaustible supplies of pork and cheese.
Saturday night’s sold-out show at Grand Rapids’ 20 Monroe Live, a crowd-pleasing career overview, offered the trio’s sizable cult a delightful opportunity to dust off their “Pork Soda” T-shirts and “Primus sucks!” chants.
OFF-KILTER CLASSICS, A WHAMOLA AND ‘FULL CLAYPOOL MODE’
Onward from opener “American Life,” a demented national anti-anthem propelled by a trademark Claypool helicopter bass riff, the trio ripped through an hour and 45 minutes of off-kilter classics — “My Name Is Mud,” “Winona’s Big Brown Beaver,” “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” — without bothering to clarify how, exactly, this music ever ended up on mainstream radio. Odd times, the ’90s.
Pork Soda Multitude: Primus fans were in full force. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
Claypool is back with the classic Primus lineup, which includes guitarist Larry “Ler” Lalonde and drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander, always willing to jam out an ending or follow the leader’s wherever the muse wandered. The set contained 14 songs, including the encore of “Here Come the Bastards” and “Sgt. Baker,” which means the average runtime was (pulls out calculator app) seven-and-a-half minutes apiece. I suppose that explains why, in later years, the band has widened its circus tent to include a jam-band audience.
The set list leaned heavily on “Sailing the Seas of Cheese,” the band’s major-label debut that is widely considered its best work. Claypool was in what what seemed to be full Claypool mode, chattering between songs and appearing at one point in a pig-devil mask while raking a bow across a whamola, an electric version of a jugband one-string standup bass. Why? Primus, that’s why.
A photo of the night’s set list showed a cheeky note from Claypool that read, “Sorry fellas… nothing of note happened in Grand Rapids today.” That’s certainly not true, although there were a few notable omissions — “Too Many Puppies”? There were not enough puppies! But what do you expect if you keep yelling at a band that they suck?
PHOTO GALLERY: Primus, Insects Vs. Robots at 20 Monroe Live
Photos by Anthony Norkus
Copyright 2017, Spins on Music LLC
