By Andrew Bansal
October 22nd 2011, The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA: The marquee at the Wiltern said “SOLD OUT”. The line of people waiting to enter went all the way down the block and around the corner. There was a degree of eagerness and anticipation among the waiting fans. The scene was set for what promised to be a great show. Now it was only up to Primus to deliver. The band had landed in town on the back of a hugely successful Green Naugahyde touring run, and tonight was the last show. They were doing an “evening with” format, which meant they were performing two full sets at these shows and did not have any opening bands before them. Having never seen the band myself, it looked like I had picked the perfect setting to get my first ever live Primus experience.
Right from the moment I stepped inside the theatre, I knew it was a different show as compared to some of the more conventional metal shows I’ve seen at this venue. The lines for the merchandise stand and beer counters were much longer than the line to get the general admission pit wristbands, and as a result I was able to get myself a pit wristband despite being quite far back in the line outside the venue. I’m glad I got that writstband because it enabled me to get close to the stage and get a good look at everything. Their stage set-up looked massive, with the two giant astronauts positioned on each side of the drum kit, and directly behind and above the drum kit was a screen which was used for projecting visuals throughout the night. Below is a picture I took (excuse the fuzziness, it’s a cellphone picture).
Shouts of “Primus sucks!” grew louder and louder among the crowd as the scheduled time for the band to hit the stage approached. Promptly at 8.30, the trio of Les Claypool, Larry LeLonde and Jay Lane appeared and kicked off the first set, which was made up of songs from the first five studio albums, 9 songs in total, along with a very entertaining drum and whamola jam during which Les Claypool wore his customary monkey mask. I had never seen an instrument quite like the whamola ever before, and thanks to Claypool I got to see it in action. In fact, he brought out a variety of basses that were pretty unique, at least to someone like me. The crowd was loving every moment of this set filled with songs they were already familiar with, jumping and going nuts for the entire time, specially when Claypool addressed them. He mentioned that he likes people dressed as bananas, and although he couldn’t spot anyone with a banana outfit from his vantage point, he did see two guys dressed in fluorescent yellow safety vests and said, “I wonder what these guys are protecting themselves from!” The two guys went absolutely crazy at being acknowledged by Claypool. It was a great moment. For Claypool it might well have been something routine, something he does every night, but for those guys it must have been a moment they’d remember for a long time.
The band took a break after the first set, but the entertainment didn’t stop. Popeye cartoons were being played on the screen during this break. I was getting to watch Popeye after a long, long time, so it was a glorious feeling of deja vu for me, and I’m sure others in the crowd felt the same. A loud roar went up every time Popeye busted out the spinach. It was a lot of fun, but it did seem to drag on after a while. The break should not have been longer than 15 minutes, but it went on for close to 30 minutes.
Primus finally reappeared, and played their latest studio album Green Naugahyde in its entirety, after which they did a 2-song encore made up of “Southbound Pachyderm” and “Tommy The Cat”. For me, the highlight of the Green Naugahyde performance was “Lee Van Cleef”, named after the American actor of the same name, not just because of the song itself but also for the visuals that accompanied. Scenes from the Clint Eastwood westerns starring Lee Van Cleef were running on the screen in a loop while the band played the music. This was another moment almost everybody could unanimously relate to and enjoy. Besides that song, the rest of Green Naugahyde certainly delivered the promise, and came across to be as good as the fans expected it to sound in a live setting.
I love the idea of bands playing two sets, because it gives them the chance to promote their new album to the maximum, while still giving fans material from the rest of the catalog. Swedish melodic death metal giants Amon Amarth did the same thing earlier this year, but I actually think they executed it better than Primus. Amon Amarth played the new album set first, and the classics set after. I felt Primus should have done it in that order too. The 2nd set should always be better than the first, ‘better’ in terms of songs people are more familiar with. But at least they ended the show with an encore of two old songs, so that was appreciated by the fans.
In terms of performance, the band nailed it, and put on a show which was well worth every paying fan’s money. It was really cool to get to see Les Claypool perform, a mere few feet away from where I was standing. His Metallica story is very well documented, and after seeing him play a multitude of instruments, each with equal aplomb, I can understand why he was “too good” for Metallica. Besides Claypool, guitarist Larry LeLonde threw down some delightful guitar riffs, while drummer Jay Lane did his job to perfection.
Although personally two and a half hours of Primus was a bit too much for me to be completely honest, I am glad I went to this show because I witnessed something unusual, something I normally don’t go for, a unique style of music. I am a 100 per cent certain that every fan in the building had a great time being part of this evening with Primus. An amazing performance indeed. PRIMUS SUCKS!
Rating: 8/10
Setlist:
Set 1
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Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers
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Pudding Time
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Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread
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The Pressman
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Over The Falls
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Drum and Whamola Jam
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Eleven
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Mrs. Blaileen
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Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
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Over the Electric Grapevine
Set 2: Green Naugahyde
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Prelude to a Crawl
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Hennepin Crawler
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Last Salmon Man
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Eternal Consumption Engine
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Tragedy’s a’ Comin’
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Eyes of the Squirrel
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Jilly’s on Smack
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Lee Van Cleef
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Moron TV
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Green Ranger
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HOINFODAMAN
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Extinction Burst
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Salmon MenEncore:
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Southbound Pachyderm
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Tommy the Cat
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