I saw Primus for the first time in 1993. It was the summer I graduated high school. My parents had moved from Raleigh, North Carolina to Goldsboro, a small town about 60 miles southeast of the Capital city. My nomadic parents had uprooted our family my senior year in high school and I found myself taken from the beaches of Southwest Florida into the heart of the budding research triangle. I was surrounded by new music; record stores like School Kids Records and the Record Exchange became my daily hang out while my radio dial was always tuned into the local college radio station at NC State University.
I flung myself head first into new music. My taste has changed. I was discovering and listening to edgier bands. I was 18 and slightly angry, so the music seemed to come at the perfect time. I was finding my rage music. So when my parents moved just as I turned old enough to get into local clubs to see bands, I was devastated. However, as luck would have it, I moved next door to the first hardcore Primus fan I ever knew. His name was Josh. I pulled into my driveway one night listening to Tool’s “Opiate”. Josh made some comment about the music and we instantly became best friends. He’s the one that introduced me to Primus. We happily made the trek to Raleigh that summer to see Lollapalooza, which was still a touring festival. Looking at that line-up now - WOW!; Primus, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr., Arrested Development – to name a few. I feel lucky that I got to see these bands at this time in their musical careers.
My first Primus experience was slightly disappointing. I met the temperamental Les. Someone flung something in Les’ generally direction, it hit his bass, and just over halfway into the set Primus walked off stage. I can understand the sentiment. It’s got to be aggravating. I wouldn't see Primus again until the summer of 2013, at the All Good Music Festival. They were more amazing than I had remembered. Perhaps years of performing and touring had strengthened their style.
Last summer, Primus came to Western New York and I missed it. Luckily, All Good was just a few weeks later so my heartache was easily lightened. This year I saw them at the beginning of the summer at the Summer Camp Music Festival. When it was announced that they would be playing our area again, in North Tonawanda (of all places); I wasn't going to miss it.
The thing I love about Primus is this almost primordial socio-musical journey. I’m from the south. When I listen to Primus there’s almost this sense that I’m listening to my backwoods uncle sitting on the porch on a summer evening while he tells stories about his friends and his views on society. Lyrically, Les doesn't say a lot. He doesn't have to. Because what he does say is so fitting and to the point, he doesn't need sweeping vocals or book like lyrics to get his point across. I love listening to him wax poetic in-between songs almost as much as the music itself.
Musically, Primus is one of the simplest yet most powerful three-piece bands I've ever seen. I don’t have to pontificate about Les’ bass skills. I think it’s pretty well known what an amazing musician he is. But I think it’s important to mention was an authoritative presence he brings to the band. You can’t just replace Les Claypool. Larry's guitar is the perfect complement to Les’ style. It often feels like the roles of bassist and guitarist are slightly reversed, since the bass takes such a commanding lead in the band’s music. On Drums, Tim maintains an unrelenting pace; steady, forceful but not overpowering. It’s hard to dissect the dynamic here, because you don’t need to. Maybe it seems like I’m taking the easy way out, but its Primus. I don’t think I really have to explain how it works. Or maybe it’s because I don’t really know quite how or why it works. Because really it shouldn't.
I leaned to a friend during the show and asked, ”Do you think Les leaves the stage slightly puzzled that people get what he’s doing?” He replied, “Maybe at first, but I think even he gets it now.” We were treated to the South Park theme. A train came roaring through at the most perfectly timed moment during “My Name is Mud”. Even Les commented on its momentary perfection. I watched a little girl, no more than six years old, shake and dance to the music. She knew every bass line; her timing was perfect. It gives me hope for the future that some kids will grow up knowing more than the top 40 fed music they hear on the radio. Incidentally, when my buddy Eric and I screamed “Primus Sucks”, she whirled around and glared at us. I guess she isn't quite in the know just yet.
The set list from the evening was a brilliant example of what Primus does well. “Wynona”, “Jerry”, and “Mud” satisfied even the casual Primus listener. “Lee Van Cleef” has become one of my favorite live Primus songs over the last two summers. There’s just something I love about the bouncing bass line and the slightly circus tent vibe to the song. I was more than thrilled with the “Too Many Puppies” encore. This was my fifth Primus show but only the first time I had ever heard the song live. Perhaps, they were set to play it back on that first show in the summer of ’93; but that I guess I’ll never really know.
What I love about Primus is that I don’t feel like I missed anything. I don’t feel like I missed a lot by not having seen Primus again for 20 years. I’m sad that I didn't, because I inherently realized I did miss quite a lot. But the band doesn’t have their thumbs up their arses. They don’t refuse to play the songs that became the most popular. I think Les has a sense that what he does and the music he plays is just slightly odd in the most fantastic, carnival-esque kind of way. Primus doesn't just appeal to the metal set. The crowd at the show was varied – metal heads, hippies, bikers, families, young professionals. Proof, I think, that Primus isn't just about one group of people or one decade of music. Twenty years ago, when I was first introduced to Primus, I would have never predicted that this wonderfully odd and wildly abnormal band would become so popular to so many cross-section of people – proof that we all have a little bit of abnormal in our souls that needs to be satisfied.
The Set List
North Tonawanda NY – Gateway Park June 22, 2014
Here Come the Bastards
Moron TV
Fisticuffs
Groundhog's Day
Over the Falls
South Park Theme
Lee Van Cleef
Jilly's on Smack
Mr. Krinkle
Eleven
The Heckler
American Life
Wynona's Big Brown Beaver
My Name Is Mud
Over the Electric Grapevine
Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
Harold of the Rocks
Too Many Puppies
