They’re weird, they’re wonderful, they’re Primus
They’re weird, they’re wonderful, they’re Primus
The beloved trio’s debut at the new Terminal B Amphitheater was one for the ages
There is no substitute for time spent in the musical woodshed.
Though they’ve all worked with other musicians along the way, Les Claypool, Ler LaLonde and Tim ‘Herb’ Alexander have been playing together as Primus for 40 years, (with sporadic interruptions for Alexander, who left the band briefly on two occasions.) During that time, the three have learned to listen to each other on an almost telepathic level, their personal idiosyncrasies melding into a sound that blends funk, progressive and psychedelic music into a unique hybrid.
Primus is, as the critic Robert Christgau once opined, “quite possibly the strangest top-10 band ever,” and it’s this fact that has endeared the trio to a few generations of music lovers with adventurous taste and a thirst for the odd and beautifully freakish.
Five thousand people who fit this description gathered at the new Terminal B Amphitheater on Buffalo’s Outer Harbor on Friday, August 9, to celebrate this enduring relationship. They were treated to a stellar set with a consistently advanced level of jamming and interplay, a few surprises, and more than a few laughs.
Primus is currently sharing a package tour with progressive metal mainstays Coheed & Cambria, with Puddles’ Pity Party acting as opener, following the removal of Fishbone from the bill, due to some strange circumstances.
The bill sold out the Terminal B Amphitheater, and judging by the merch being displayed by the faithful, Coheed & Cambria were responsible for a strong portion of the draw. Sadly, due to a prior commitment on the night of the show, I arrived just as Coheed was wrapping its set. Reports from the tour have consistently praised the band’s performance, however, and the handful of folks I asked about their Amphitheater B set suggested they, in the words of one fan, “totally crushed it.”
Primus took the Amphitheater B stage at 9:20, and wasted little time getting good and weird. “Over the Falls” is a tune that Claypool and co. love to play when they come through Buffalo, its tale of a man launching himself over Niagara Falls in barrel being germane to our region, and a source of apparently endless glee for Claypool himself. The song’s twisted, skittish 6/8 time signature was anchored by Claypool’s absolutely massive bass tone and angular fretless bass lines, which somehow simultaneously suggested tripped-out circus music and serious funk. The trio hit its stride quickly, as a mid-song jam erupted and revealed the symmetry between Claypool and LaLonde, who routinely finished each other’s phrases and offered commentary around their counterpart’s funky stabbings, - LaLonde favoring a more avant garden approach to the tune’s tonality, while Claypool anchored the proceedings with a mighty low end thump.
The tour debut of “John the Fisherman,” from the band’s debut studio album, followed, and deepened the funk, as Alexander brought some serious thunder to the stage, peppering a deep pocket with ambitious, prog-tinged fills.
The ominous strut of “American Life,” a dark tale detailing the aspirations of refugees seeking a new life on these shores, followed, and was an early highlight. Here was the magic of Primus in a nutshell - they might seem goofy and playful on the surface (and they are), but this was a serious slab of musical cinematography, a smartly-observed piece marrying lyrical imagery to tumultuous (but still strangely funky) music, and LaLonde took to the song like an odd duck to acid-spiked water.
The set’s centerpiece, in my view at least, was a truly inspired take on Rush’s late 70s progressive epic “Cygnus X-1,” a deeply complex and demanding piece that Claypool, LaLonde and Alexander performed as if they’d been born to the job. The multi-sectioned song afforded each band member the opportunity to shine, and they all eagerly grabbed that opportunity. During the breakdown that precedes the song’s apocalyptic apex, a dark-robed and hooded figure emerged stage left, holding a glowing skull aloft and gesticulating wildly. Soon, that figure revealed itself to be Coheed & Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez, who proceeded to sing the frenzied high notes that act as the crescendo of “Cygnus X-1”. I don’t know how to describe this, other than to call it a mind-blowing experience, one I savored as a devout fan of both Rush and Primus.
“Jilly’s On Smack,” a dark meditation on heroin addiction that, perplexingly, managed to also sound upbeat and fun, followed, and again, the trio got good and trippy in the tune’s mid-section.
Fan favorites “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver” and “My Name Is Mud” wrapped up the set proper on a freakishly jubilant note, and led to an encore that included “Follow the Fool,” “Jellikit” and “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver.” And another brilliant Primus show in Buffalo was in the books.
FWIW, this was my first concert experience at the new Terminal B Amphitheater, and it was a wholly positive one. The layout of the grounds, the natural sloping of the ampitheatre bowl, the abundance of friendly sight-lines, and the excellent quality of the live sound conspired to wipe away any reservations I had going in. Kudos to all who made it happen.