Manchester has been without Primus for 9 years and the drought from weird proggy funk music about beef and frogs and whatever the hell else Primus sings about is finally over. With a sold out Victoria Warehouse, Primus quietly say to themselves “here come the bastards” as they unleash the stomping phunky phresh riffs.
The show had a long wait between doors and Primus hitting the stage. The band performed two sets with no support, which sounds amazing in theory but we’ll circle back to that. The first set was filled with a menagerie of wacky weirdness and immensely powerful musicianship as Primus played classics like ‘American Life’, ‘The Antipop’ and the legendary ‘Frizzle Fry’ as well as some deeper cuts like ‘Dirty Drowning Man’.
Everything was played beautifully and the sound matched that level of professionalism as you could feel the bass rattle through your bones without drowning out the absolutely bizarre guitar work of Ler LaLonde. Formerly unemployed drummer, John Hoffman, also established himself as a powerhouse as he introduced himself to the people of Manchester, with Les Claypool declaring to the audience “you’re not here to see him, he’s here to see you”.
The second set was full of weird and wacky deep cuts like ‘Over the Electric Grapevine’ and ‘Duchess and the Proverbial Mindspread’ but there were still appearances from all time classics like the creepy darkness of ‘My Name Is Mud’ and the NASCAR national anthem, ‘Jerry Was a Race Car Driver’. While there were still a wealth of legendary Primus tracks, there were a few disappointing omissions including ‘Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver’, ‘Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers’, ‘Mr. Krinkle’, ‘John the Fisherman’ and ‘Southbound Pachyderm’, but the die hard Primus fans could still be entertained by deeper cuts like ‘Dirty Drowning Man’ and ‘Bob’s Party Time Lounge’ and one of my personal favourites, ‘Shake Hands with Beef’.
The big dividing point between people is based on how much you can tolerate jamming. The majority of these songs contained long sections where the band trailed off into improvised jam sessions which showed off amazing musicianship with everyone having a time to shine. If you’re here for a band playing songs exactly like the record, then this isn’t the show for you. Les Claypool has called this tour a showcase for “a rejuvenated Primus” and you can definitely pick up on the newfound chemistry between the band, but I can’t help but think you could have squeezed a few more songs in if you didn’t go on the giant Grateful Dead-style odysseys, but that’s personal preference.
The strange and atonal guitar work from Larry ‘Ler’ LaLonde is unmistakable and he’s given plenty of opportunities to show off in between songs. It makes sense that he’s considered “The Godfather of Death Metal” as Les says. His style of borderline noise and unconventional scales during his time in Possessed helped pave the way for guitarists like Trey Azagthoth of Morbid Angel, so it’s good to hear that he still retains some of his extreme metal roots while playing some of the goofiest music around. Ler seems genuinely thrilled to be Lerring Manchester once again and we’re thrilled to be Lerred by him.
The set ended with ‘Too Many Puppies’, a certified jumping classic full of metal energy and groove that got an absolutely rammed audience moving and grooving to the tasty licks for one last time before being serenaded by ‘World of Pure Imagination’ and making their way out of Primus’ whimsical world and back into our hellish dystopia once again.
This is a very different Primus to the one that appeared in Manchester back in 2015. The songs are just as tight but the band feel more laid back and able to jam and show off their immense talents, and you can tell the band is in a much better space in terms of musical chemistry and on stage banter. You’re in for a treat if you ever cross paths with Primus nowadays. There’s genuine talent on stage paired with the silliness, and the die hard audience that filled the room seemed to have a brilliant time despite the heat and crowding.
