Claypool Gold Wowed Packed Factory in Saint Louis Saturday
–by Sean Derrick
Having seen Primus live over a dozen times I went into Saturday’s show at The Factory in St. Louis with a preconceived notion of what to expect. And just like nearly every other time what I expected was blown away with what I saw live.
In town a quarter of the way through their 30-date US tour of “Claypool Gold ’26” the show featured mesmerizing displays of trippy, surreal, and hypnotic melodies surrounding funk, metal, and exploratory jam sessions. None of which is unusual for a Primus show.
What was different was the setup for the show, entitled “Claypool Gold ’26”, which featured all bands that are fronted, or co-fronted by bassist/vocalist Les Claypool; Primus, Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, and the Claypool Lennon Delirium. The uniqueness of Claypool performing in every act on stage isn’t new (See John Dwyer or Ty Segall), but it is very unusual. And for Claypool, an artist who can’t be defined by one genre, this gives him a chance to perform multiple genres in one evening to the same crowd. And let me tell you, this is a treat.
The Fearless Frog Brigade opened the show with a solid 4-song set that delved into a trippy prog rock jam session. The band is reformed with Sean Ono Lennon on guitar, Paulo Baldi on drums, Mike Dillon on percussion, keyboardist Harry Waters and Skerik on Sax.
After Les and Sean discussed future culinary delicacies and the problem of evolutionary choices to eat cockroaches Lennon showed off his incredibly impressive chops on guitar during some extended jamming, particularly on “Up On the Roof”. Seriously, go check out their latest Ep which dropped 10 days ago called Return of the Live Frogs: Volume 1 (I really hope this means there will be more live releases coming up) and tell me that isn’t some of the best improvisation and extended jamming you have heard from a live band recording in a long time. The Ep really delivers what a live show from these guys is like.
The set immediately refocused to the Claypool Lennon Delirium with an otherworldly 8-song set. The duo has been together for 10 years now playing over 100 shows together with a reputation for stellar psychedelic melodies and heavy grooves. Their performance Saturday did not disappoint. The first shocker came when they performed a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine”, which has usually been reserved for the last song of the set. Well, if that started it off how good will this set be?
Let me just state here that The Factory was Jam packed. I mean, if it wasn’t sold out, they would need a crowbar to cram any more people in. I have never seen it that crowded for a show there, before, even in sold out concerts, or at least it never felt this packed. Everyone was there early, any late stragglers were few and far between. There was a reason everyone wanted to get there early, and the FFFB and CLD made them happy.
They just released a new album called The Great Parrott-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy on May 1 (yes Les and Sean have been busy) and delivered a though provoking exceptional set highlighted heavy on themes involving social metaphors, morality, AI, existentialism, and the erosion of empathy via songs like “Meat Machines”, “WAP (What a Predicament)” and “South of Reality”.
By the time Primus hit the stage at 9:30 the audience was buzzing, awed at the first half and wondering what the setlist for Primus would be like.
Claypool likes to shake up a setlist, rarely performing the same setlist 2 nights in a row. This tour has been no exception. After a 10 minute video short titled “What is Primus” that encompasses surreal graphics, interviews with actors and musicians like Jason Momoa, Josh Homme, Justin Chancellor, Stewart Copeland, Willow Smith, Norwood Fischer, lex Lifeson and Geddy Lee (which drew a huge response) with hilarious interpretations, stories, and laudations of the band. After which was the Danny Elfman song “Clown Dreams” but followed Puddles Pity Party. I gotta admit I thought for a second Puddles was going to come out with them and they would open with their Dio cover of “Holy Diver”. It was just a tease as the trio came out with “Harold of the Rocks” form their 1990 debut album Fizzle Fry.
The band (Claypool, guitarist Larry “Ler” LaLonde, and drummer John Hoffman) tore through one of the most intriguing sets I have seen. Sure, there were normies like “My Name is Mud” and “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” and “Mr. Krinkle” but they didn’t play 2 of their 3 staple songs in “Jerry was a Race Car Driver” and “Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers”. But even with the absence of those songs with the rest of the setlist it was still solid.
There were the ever-present Claypoolisms with jokes and tales, even the only time he hit a roadblock he quipped During “Over the Falls” Claypool sang the wrong lyrics at one point and quipped with Ler about how he “fucked up the lyrics, didn’t I?” and kept trucking along. No one cared. It just showed that he is human and not some space alien from a planet of bassists.
The band released an Ep (Yes, we are now talking about Primus. See? I told you Claypool has been busy.) called A Handful of Nuggs which was a surprise drop on May 15 which features the aforementioned “Holy Diver” and “The Ol’ Grizz”, among others, which Claypool went into a self-proclaimed “rant” about grizzlies in California and the choice to re-introduce more of them into the area.
Over the course of the next hour and 45 minutes the band captivated with deep cuts like “Bob’s Party Time Lounge” and songs like “Shake Hands With Beef” neither of which have been played in St. Louis. Every year it seems they break out a song they have never played here, thus proving there is always something new when you see a Primus show.
But for me, the absolute highlight of the show was a surprise ending cover of The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Everyone came back onstage for this (the only time this has been played so far on the tour, I am not sure anyone was expecting it since it has been noticeably omitted from every setlist so far. But wow, what an awesome bonus! Personally, because “Tomorrow Never Knows” is my favorite Beatles’ song (I know, it IS hard to have just one, but I have aways loved the uniqueness and complexity of the track.) And while I am fully aware of the complex process it took to record it with the multi layered sampling and tape manipulation making it impossible to precisely recreate live (The only “live forward” instruments were Paul’s bass and Ringo’s human metronome drumming). But Sean and Les have absolutely nailed their interpretation of the song. I fully believe John would have been proud if he could have heard this rendition.
The tour continues across the U.S. until July 4. If you can check out one of the stops you absolutely should.
Be sure to check out the full gallery of clickable images from the show after the setlists below.
Claypool Gold Setlist:
Set One- The Frog Brigade:
Up on the Roof (Les Claypool Frog Brigade song)
Lust Stings (Les Claypool song)
Amanitas (Les Claypool song)
One Better (Les Claypool song/tour debut)
Claypool Lennon Delerium:
Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd cover – with all 3 bands)
Meat Machines
Troll Bait
WAP (What a Predicament)
Cliptopia
The Golden Egg of Empathy
Mr. Wright
South of Reality
Set Two – Primus:
Harold of the Rocks
The Seven
American Life
The Ol’ Grizz
Over the Falls
Seas of Cheese
Mr. Krinkle
Bob’s Party Time Lounge
Shake Hands With Beef
Welcome to This World
My Name is Mud
Encore:
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver
Dirty Drowning Man
Tomorrow Never Knows (The Beatles cover – with all 3 bands)
