Review & photos by Jordan West
Primus founder/bassist Les Claypool brought out a trio of his musical projects for all to enjoy on a lovely night in Long Beach harbor. The recently opened F&M Bank Amphitheater, right next to the majestic ocean liner Queen Mary, was the scene of an evening of performances that ranged from psychedelic avant-garde, to extreme funk and beyond. Claypool and company offered a bit of a career perspective on a variety of his projects in an almost three-hour performance, which had his fans and the curious grooving along together all evening.
Claypool Gold began with the six-piece Frog Brigade, which featured Claypool on bass along with drummer Paulo Baldi, vibist Mike Dillon, Skerik on saxophone, as well as keyboard player Harry Waters (son of Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters). On guitar and vocals, Sean Ono Lennon (yes, the son of John and Yoko) added an intriguing curiosity to what would be a very interesting, eye-opening set.
The band, with the exception of Claypool and Lennon, were all adorned in bright green chef coats and wore tan military helmets, that added a bit of cohesiveness to the free jazz approach to the music itself. It ranged from the funky “Up On The Roof,” a song, Claypool explained, is about a kid getting stuck on the roof of a house, to the fun “The Rumble Of The Diesel,” which is about a commercial fisherman’s experiences at sea.
A large cartoon frog bearing gold wings was projected on the video screen behind the band, as well as some digital psychedelic animation. Claypool’s Primus mates, guitarist Larry “Lar” LaLonde and new Primus drummer John Hoffman joined the band at various points in the set, which brought Claypool’s storytelling to the forefront, and the Frog Brigade part of the show ended with the ultra-funky “Riddles Are Abound Tonight” a song that was recorded under the bands original name, Sausage.
Without changing sets, The Claypool Lennon Delirium took over and started off the second portion of the show with Lennon taking the vocals for the dreamy, almost mid-60s Beatle pop of “Blood And Rockets” (Movements 1 & 2: “The Saga Of Jack Parsons” and “Too The Moon”), which was written about rocket scientist Jack Parsons and his interest in the occult. Lennon is an accomplished singer and guitarist in his own right, and his high tenor vocals blended well with the instrumental portions. He engaged quite a bit with Claypool onstage, and their familiarity with each other showed in the flow of the songs, as well as the smiles on both their faces, as they performed. “How many times have you been to the Queen Mary?” Claypool asked Lennon at one point. An amused Lennon laughed it off before the two had a brief discussion about DNA, then launched into the bass-heavy rocker “Cliptopia.”
Lennon then introduced the song “WAP (What A Predicament)” from their latest release The Great Parrot-Ox And The Golden Egg Of Empathy. It’s a lovely 60s-70s styled pop song with a lively, thumping beat and Lennon’s sweet vocals. Animator Micah Buzan, who did the artwork on the LP, provided fun animated videos that were shown on the screen behind the band during their set, which ended with an ode to the founders of psychedelic pop Pink Floyd. They finished with a nice cover of the Floyd’s 1967 number “Astronomy Domine” that included all the evening’s musicians. The crowd seemed to be getting in the whole “hippie vibe” of the moment and I noticed quite a few “twirlers” like you would see at a Grateful Dead show, dancing in the aisles and front of the GA pit.
After a brief intermission, a video tribute that featured various musicians including bassist Geddy Lee from Rush, Tool’s Justin Chancellor, and Fishbone’s Norwood Fisher praising Primus and their impact on them. That led into another video intro featuring the popular singer “Puddles Pity Party” singing a version of Danny Elfman’s “Clown Dream” as Primus took the stage. What followed was a 13-song set that encompassed a large portion of Primus’s career, including a few surprises.
Opening with their classic “Those Damn Blue-Collar Tweekers,” a song from 1991 that really got me interested in the trio — Claypool on bass and vocals, LaLonde on guitar and background vocals, and Hoffman on drums — who quickly had their long-time fans bouncing around the venue. “The Ol’Grizz,” a new one about a “Forty-Niner” era prospector fit right into the frantic, slap bass Primus style along with “Over The Falls” that had the hilarious black and white video featuring a submarine builder playing on the video screen as the band rocked.
An always amusing Claypool paused to kid new drummer Hoffman about being nervous about playing “Dirty Drowning Man” in front of long-time former drummer Brian “Brain” Manta who was in attendance. “Hof” said that he would nail it and he did not disappoint, drawing a huge applause as they finished the number. During a breakdown between songs, Claypool chided guitarist “Lar” about the fact that they were playing in front of the Queen Mary that was behind them and to stage left. He referred to it jokingly as the “Queen Larry” drawing smiles all around the venue.
The band even brought out the members of the Frog Brigade for “The Ol’ Diamonback Sturgeon (Fisherman’s Chronicles Pt. 3)” before cranking out a few verses of “Welcome to This World,” then stopping and shifting gears into the crowd favorite “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver.” That song, with its audience participation chant “Dog will HUNT!” part, got the crowd fired up before the band left the stage. They encored with yet another song about fishermen: “John The Fisherman.”
Happily, Primus rocked their adoring fans with their classic “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” to really set the place off, before inviting all the evening’s musicians onstage for a set-ending cover of the English Beat’s 1980 ska song “Mirror in the Bathroom” that the band made all their own. Skerik’s saxophone riffs and Dillons vibes, combined with the quirky funk of Primus, was the perfect combination to complete an eye-opening evening of musicianship that crossed many borders.
As for the venue itself, located in front of the Queen Mary with the city of Long Beach and its lovely harbor as a backdrop, is a plus. The sound was adequate, the seating was comfortable, and site lines were terrific. Its offsite parking options yielded mixed results from attendees. This was only the second show at this new open-air venue. I’m sure there will be more options and decisions made as the summer concert season moves forward.
