Covering Rush (opens in new tab) is a tall order at the best of times, but the whole of A Farewell To Kings? Primus are surely one of the only bands who can pull that and roved it as kicked off their A Tribute To Kings tour in Nampa, Idaho on August 10.
And yes, that is Les Claypool wearing a kimono in the video above, just like Geddy Lee (opens in new tab) did.
The bass icon even got Geddy's blessing for the tour. "I texted with him — I keep in touch with Geddy — just to make sure we weren’t trodding on something weird," Claypool told Rolling Stone. "So I checked in with him to see what he thought of it, and he was excited about the notion. ... He thought it was a great idea."
Rush's Geddy Lee: 10 bassists who blew my mind (opens in new tab)
So much so, the Rush man even gave Claypool a personal bass lesson to make sure he got everything right when performing the 1977 prog opus.
The Rush man even chose Claypool as one of his favourite bass players for MusicRadar (opens in new tab) and noted how he's inspired him: “I’d never heard a bass player do anything like that, doing single notes in a rock way then going to slapping and popping in this slinky, almost humorous way," Lee told us. "It was very effective rhythmically. So as much as he says I inspired him when he was young, he kinda inspired me in the middle of my career, making me realise I could get a lot more rhythm out of my playing.
“I started trying to bring that into my work in Rush. Listen to Jerry Was A Race Car Driver or any of those songs, and you’ll be hearing a pioneer of the bass guitar. He’s got this very original attitude and fresh approach with this highly creative, albeit quirky, player.”
Les Claypool: “I always squirm when people say ‘slap bass’! It's thumpin’ and pluckin’” (opens in new tab)
Primus – also featuring guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander – kicked off the first half of their set at the Ford Amphitheater in Nampa with their own songs before the Tribute To Kings section and an encore of two of their own best-loved songs.
The full set list was as follows:
1. Those Damned Blue Collar Tweakers
2. Mr. Knowitall
3. "Groundhog's Day
4. Fisticuffs
5. Seas of Cheese
6. Frizzle Fry
7. My Name is Mud
8. Over the Electric Grapevine
A Tribute to Kings
9. A Farewell to Kings
10. Xanadu
11. Closer to the Heart
12. Cinderella Man
13. Madrigal
14. Cygnus X-1 Book 1: The Voyage
15. Wynona's Big Brown Beaver
16. Southbound Pachyderm
For more info on future tour dates visit Primus. (opens in new tab)
