With a crowd that ranged from fans of Grateful Dead to The Misfits (and everything in between), there was one sentiment that everyone last night at Penn’s Landing, PA would agree with: Primus Sucks!!

While Phish has been churning out new songs at an alarming rate, Primus has made a conscience effort to return to their original work, which was apparent in their concert last night that featured such hits as “My Name is Mud”, “Toys Winding Down”, and “Jerry was a Race Car Driver”. Following a esoteric Willy Wonka-inspired tour earlier this year, Primus and opening act Dinosaur Jr. have kicked off an already successful summer tour. Dinosaur Jr., a monumental band in the punk world, blew the audience away and proved that you are never too old to rock and roll. Their impressive guitar work and heavy drumming had the crowd in all-out mosh pits in many instances. A fun time indeed.

Starting at 9:15 pm, Les Claypool in all his weirdness graced fans on the pier of Philadelphia during a perfect summer night with face melting, disjointed-yet-smooth funky/metal bass lines and Primus’s always-welcome wacky antics. His stage banter was quite a treat as he pointed out members of the crowd that were dressed in full-out unicorn outfits and a guy riding the rail that had a large tattoo of Claypool’s face that had Les “questioning his own sanity.” Yet, between the impeccable musicianship of guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde, drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander (who seems to have fully recovered from his open heart surgery ~1 year ago), Claypool’s always impressive bass work, and the discombobulating videos that accompanied Primus’s performance (some of which included work by David Firth, the creator of Salad Fingers, as well as crudely edited clips of Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), I would argue that the audience were the ones that were slowly but surely losing their minds.

Tim Alexander was relentless, always keeping the pulse of the show going. One of the highlights of the show was certainly Tim’s killer drum solo -> Claypool fooling around on the Whamola, one of Primus’s more acclaimed acts of tomfoolery. Ler’s guitar shined all night, and Claypool was, well, Claypool (aka he killed it). 

Overall the show was a real treat and proof that Primus still has not lost their chops. The weirdest band to ever go mainstream stayed true to their fans and themselves, and put on a hell of a performance. Dinosaur Jr. was a fantastic compliment and really helped set the tone for the night. Highlights of the show include “American Life”, “Lee Van Cleef”, and “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” although the entire show was a real treat from top to bottom. If you enjoy great music and overall weirdness, check out a Primus show this tour, you won’t regret it [tour dates].

Setlist:

Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers
Last Salmon Man
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver
American Life
Over the Falls
The Good The Bad and the Ugly tease
Lee Van Cleef
Jilly’s on Smack
Drum and Whamola Jam
Eleven
Groundhog’s Day
My Name Is Mud
Over the Electric Grapevine
Jerry Was a Race Car Driver

Encore:
Southbound Pachyderm
Too Many Puppies

Words by Ben Fortgang, Photos by Sean DiSerio. Full gallery below