Well it only took me nine livestreams to figure out that I should hook my laptop up to my tv using an HDMI cable instead of just watching on my laptop but I guess better late than never.
This livestream was being broadcast from Les Claypool’s winery, Claypool Cellars. Right at the beginning there was a disclaimer that mentioned the word “produced.” So much for a “live” stream… Those thoughts quickly melted away as soon as the stream began with “Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers.” No banter, just right into it. It was mind blowing to see Les shred on a bass with a whammy bar and this was only the first song! Fuck yes Les! Somewhere in the middle of the song they took a detour to play “Lacquer Head” and then brought it back around to close “Tweekers” out. Killer.
After that they did “Too Many Puppies,” which also had a detour in the middle when they played “Sgt. Baker” before they brought it back around to close out “Puppies.” The level of musicianship to do this kind of thing is astounding. I was really digging the Sailing the Seas of Cheese vibe since that is one of my favorite Primus albums. The two gummies I ate beforehand probably did not hurt anything either. Right around this time I saw something on the chat that said “Les is more” that gave me a chuckle before they continued on with “American Life.”
Next they went back to Fizzle Fry with “Pudding Time.” Les proclaimed “Not too bad for a few old turds” afterwards then dedicated the next song “The Anitpop” to Eddie V (Eddie Van Halen). For “Seas of Cheese” Les played a skinny stand up bass on a stand with a bow as he did when I saw him with Sean Lennon with The Claypool Lennon Delirium. An image of a pig mask then appeared onscreen and I immediately thought “Mr. Krinkle” because of the video and the next thing you know they started playing it. This was funny because I was just thinking to myself not too long before this that I had loved Primus from the first time I heard them, which was when I saw the video for “Mr. Krinkle.”
Following this they went back to Antipop with “The Heckler” or as Les said, “This song is called the hackeysack, the hackeysackler.” At this point I was thinking Larry LaLonde does not get enough credit for being a badass guitarist. They stuck with Antipop with heavy psychedelic production effects during “Electric, Electric” then went back to Fizzle Fry with “Harold of the Rocks.” For “Over the Electric Grapevine” Les brought out another crazy custom bass. His basses remind me of Prince’s custom guitars.
Sailing the Seas of Cheese got more love with “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” then the cover of The Rainbow Goblins book appeared before they played “The Seven.” Just as it was when I saw The Claypool Lennon Delirium “Southbound Pachyderm” was the closer but this time I actually got to see it!
Overall this set that clocked in at exactly an hour and a half was damn near perfect. For a fan that has been with the band for this many years it was very exciting how deep into the catalog they went. A+
SETLIST: Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers, Lacquer Head, Too Many Puppies, Sgt. Baker, American Life, Pudding Time, The Antipop, Seas of Cheese, Mr. Krinkle, The Heckler, Electric, Electric, Harold of the Rocks, Over the Electric Grapevine, Jerry Was a Race Car Driver, The Seven, Southbound Pachyderm
