Twenty-three years ago Colonel Les Claypool enlisted an army of musicians and took flight as the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, expanding his rhythmic, heavy, rock into improvisational lands…with a whole lot of Pink Floyd sprinkled in. While the backing members have changed, Claypool has brought this concept back on the road and pulled into Port Chester’s Capitol Theater on a muggy summer June 23rd night to play in front of a sold-out crowd.
Opening this stop on the tour was the rising Chicago-based artist Neal Francis. Playing with the support of drums, bass, and guitar, the piano-playing lead singer delivered his mix of 70’s inspired, AM pop-rock, with jazzy freedom. “Can’t Stop The Rain” was an early highlight with big engaging sounds while the set centerpiece “Prometheus” showcased what Francis does best, delivering smooth rock before an electro-keys-focused spacey middle jam section that wandered everywhere before returning to the tune effortlessly.
After the short opening set, Claypool and his men marched on stage with Harry Waters (keys) Mike Dillon (percussion), and Paulo Baldi (drums) all in a uniform of green work shirts and pith helmets while Sean Lennon (dubbed Captain Shiner) looked like a leather-clad biker as the Colonel himself wore a dapper three-piece green suit. Wasting no time, the collective dropped into their rendition of King Crimson’s “Thela Hun Ginjeet”. The explosive opener showcased a never-ending groove and solos from all, including dynamite simultaneous interlocking playing from Claypool and Dillon; the bombastic opening number was a show highlight.
The energy was then tamped down for a trio of more spacey numbers as “Rumble of the Diesel” featured Claypool’s loose booty slap bass (which sounded glorious all night), the mushroom-inspired tune “Amanitas” was both cartoony and ominous, while the trippy extended “Blood and Rockets: Movement I, Saga of Jack Parsons / Movement II, To the Moon” was sung by Lennon.
The meat of the set arrived next as the Frog Brigade put their spin on Pink Floyd’s Animals. While Lennon mostly added squiggly accents on guitar to start the show, during Animals he went into full David Gilmour mode, nailing all of the soaring solos perfectly, while Dillon’s vibraphone and Waters’ keys colored the spacey “Dogs”.
The group is fantastic, yet this is clearly Claypool’s baby as his thick bass sound reached headbanging levels during “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” and led the driving “Sheep” before the Frogs lovingly wrapped up the album with “Pigs on the Wing, Part 2”
Surprisingly some in attendance left after the album cover, missing more amazing moments. “Precipitation” featured Claypool on standup bass and a bright vibraphone solo while the yo-ho filled “David Makalaster” (complete with “Southbound Pachyderm” tease) melted into the worlds on fire chaos of “David Makalaster II” resonating even more in today’s political climate.
The show was an out-and-out success at this point, yet the band saved their best group interplay and jamming for the finale “Cosmic Highway”. The tune was a showcase for Lennon and Claypool’s stylings around percussive crashes and electro keys. Dillon at one point led the way with congas as the band shifted gears and expansively spread out while teasing multiple Primus songs.
An encore of the upbeat funky “One Better”, where Claypool and Lennon bantered when Les called out Sean for missing solos, and the bludgeoning “Whamola”, complete with the Colonel’s disco ball helmet, wrapped up the night of all-embracing psychedelic rock as Claypool led the troops on one more successful mission in Port Chester.
