Over one year after they were originally supposed to hit the road, Primus has finally kicked off their tour celebrating the music of prog rock legends Rush with a full performance of the band’s fifth album A Farewell to Kings. It isn’t hard to understand why Primus would pay tribute to Rush. After all, they are a trio with an eccentric bass-playing front man and a prolific guitarist and drummer. One could even say their music is in its own category of darkly distorted prog, and that may be why Rush enlisted the young band to open for them in the 90s. Mostly though, Primus loves doing unexpected tributes, most recently with their psychedelic take on the music of Willy Wonka. On Tuesday, August 17th, this vision manifested in front of an eager sold out crowd at Edgefield just outside Portland, Oregon.
Noise rock outfit Battles kicked off the evening’s festivities a set filled with a strange and trippy cacophony of drum effects, jagged guitar riffs, and ambience sprinkled throughout. Their music was trance-inducing with the kind of peaks and valleys that force you to wonder if you should dance or zone out.
Then it was time for Les, Ler and Tim to take the stage. As a way to pull the fans into the Primus orbit before getting to Rush – especially considering it has been at least two years since many have gotten to see them perform – the band played a first set that felt like a proper selection of greatest hits. And despite being just a few shows into the tour, the band sounded remarkably tight as they thumped along with the usual Primus hijinks and weirdness. “Those Damn Blue-Collar Tweekers” charged forth with grunge-meets-metal-on-acid fury, while “Too Many Puppies” found the band sprawling out and laying into the sinister humor of the song. Claypool unleashed a pulsating bass line on “The Seven,” while longtime favorite “Fizzle Fry” featured that trademark interplay between drums, bass and guitar. “Fisticuffs” would pump up the fans with its aggressive marching beat before the band teased Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” as the introduction to their beloved romp “Sailing the Seas of Cheese,” complete with Claypool donning his pig mask and standup bass. “Mr. Krinkle” would be a standout with its devious orchestration, and “My Name Is Mud” found Claypool laying into some his the thickest bass sounds of the night. All of these tunes were played mostly straightforward with the simple backdrop of the band’s 90s music videos projected behind them.
Following a brief intermission, the band returned to the stage to give the people the long-awaited full performance of Rush’s 1977 album A Farewell to Kings. Instead of taking creative liberty on the album, Primus chose to recreate it as close to the original as possible, a surprising choice that ultimately showed their deep love of the music. In this regard, it was fun seeing Claypool change his vocal style to match Geddy Lee’s legendary range and also watching them work hard to match the frenetic tempo changes and cranked up guitar. Standout songs included the epic “Xanadu” with Clayool and LaLonde each rocking a double-neck for plenty of feisty interplay. This song felt hugely triumphant for the trio, as if they were slaying something they set out to conquer a long time ago. Claypool seemed to revel in playing the album’s biggest hit, “Closer to the Heart,” with fans holding up lighters in salute as the band took them on a journey of primo prog rock balladry. The glory continued with band absolutely nailing “Cinderella Man,” “Madrigal,” and the monster closer “Cygnus X-1: Book One: Voyage,” all while displaying the kind of musicianship that would make the sources of their inspiration smile with approval and still injecting just enough Primus trippiness.
Returning to the stage for an especially rousing “Southbound Pachyderm” that showcased oodles of drippy 12-string guitar, Primus left their fans with a fuzzy feeling of exuberance as they welcomed them back to live music and also treated them to a collection of songs close to the heart.
All photos by Greg Homolka
4 Responses
Rush *plays…..
You are not a respectable news outlet. A respectable news outlet would use proper English. The band Rush is a singular term. Were you to mention the members of the band Rush, that would be plural. Please have someone versed in basic English proofread your articles.
Wow… some people have way too much time on their hands.
when a collective group is doing something together it is singular (The team is playing)
when they do something separately it is plural (The jury are arguing)
Rush is playing tonight
Rush are arguing about the setlist
Your kind a hung up about it, theirs no too ways about it