Primus is, and will forever be the only band that creates the auditory tapestry that is signature to its name. Although there has only been one other guitarist, there have been a number of other drummers. Jay Lane was beating the skins one year before “Suck on This” was released, so it seems only fitting that he re-join for this tour and bring everything full circle for the band that he helped create.
October 23rd was a truly magical night. Jay, Les and Larry performed a two set, no opener show that will be the envy of those who do not make it to this tour. In all seriousness, the night was perfect. A sold-out show on a beautiful night in a beautiful theater with a security staff that is the “benchmark” for how to run a show.
“Those Damn Blue-Collar Tweekers” marked the beginning of the 3-D stop in Niagara Falls and it was nothing short of amazing for the rest of the night. The giant screen behind the band spanned the entire width of the stage and was active with 3-D images for the entire performance. From scenery to still life, to classic westerns, to psychedelic kaleidoscope, you name it. Visual treats were there to match the wonderment of Primus’ music. One treat in particular was how Les brought it to everyone’s attention that “Over the Falls” had not been performed live before that night, but it seemed fitting, so there you have it. “Over the Falls” performed for the first time, in Niagara Falls with 3-D images of waterfalls from around the world larger than life in the background. “Southbound Pachyderm” was another one of my favorites from the night. Elephants on screen jumping on trampolines doing back flips mashed up with acid trip graphics in 3-D. Hello perfect Primus show.
I saw Primus play with the Ramones a while ago (obviously) and I thought it couldn’t get any better than that. I was wrong. Not just wrong, holy sh*t wrong! Les was even cool enough to point out a 12 year old kid in the crowd and let him pick the encore. Even cooler than that was how Les pointed out how impressed he was with the fact that the kid picked a deep cut and went with “Toys go Winding Down” instead of what would normally be expected out of that age group. But that didn’t stop Les, oh no. They still went ahead and played “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” as the last song of the night. I could point out how many tunes I would have loved to have heard, but let’s face it, that’s at least a five hour show. Les, Larry and Jay gave us two and a half hours of Primus, and it was beautiful. Everyone who lands a ticket for this tour gets bragging rights for life.
Set List:
Set One:
Those Damn Blue Collar Tweekers
Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread
American Life
Prelude to a Crawl
Last Salmon Man
Over the Falls
Lee Van Cleef
Jilly’s on Smack
Bob
Over the Electric Grapevine
Set Two:
Dirty Drowning Man
Moron TV
Southbound Pachyderm
Glass Sandwich
Eternal Consumption Engine
*short out take of Big Rock Candy Mountain*
Hats Off
Tragedy’s a Comin’
Eyes of the Squirrel
Harold of the Rocks
Encore:
Toys go Winding Down
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver
We would like to thank Sean Hallarman from Big Hassle Media and Ralfael Castro from the Rapids Theater for the tickets to review the show.
