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Prime Time
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There was no clear-cut path for PRIMUS when it emerged in the early-90s music melee. With its dark, bass-driven riffs, odd humor and inscrutable themes of junk food and weird science, the trio made its own way in the world, first as an underground phenomenon and later as an unlikely alt-pop success. Reunited after a three-year break, the trio brings its Tour de Fromage to the State Palace Theatre (1108 Canal St., 522-4435) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Nostalgia reunited Primus. Bassist/frontman Les Claypool and guitarist Larry LaLonde began to ache for their old band while surveying video material for a comprehensive Primus DVD, including such bizarre theatrical gems as "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" and the stop-animation classic, "Too Many Puppies." Claypool had already rekindled his musical friendship with original drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander through his association with Claypool's side project, the Frog Brigade. By the time the DVD, Animals Should Not Act Like People, hit shelves last fall, Primus had recorded a new five-track EP to go with it and booked a tour behind its release. Now in its second leg, Tour de Fromage ticket sales are unparalleled in Primus history.
But three years ago, Claypool was burned out on Primus, his instrument, and music in general. It was a visit to New Orleans during Jazz Fest 2000 -- when he played the legendary Oysterhead show with guitarist Trey Anastasio of Phish and drummer Stewart Copeland of The Police -- that jumpstarted his creativity. Putting Primus on hiatus, Claypool's association with Phish made his Frog Brigade a shoo-in for jam band-scene success. He also tried several other side projects, including a recent recording with Tool drummer Danny Carey and visionary guitarist Adrian Belew.
Now back with Primus at least temporarily, Claypool claims the break was crucial. "Playing with different people has let me see that, while the parameters were already pretty wide with Primus, they don't need to be there at all," Claypool says. At Tour de Fromage shows, Primus plays two full sets -- the first a mix of familiar and obscure tracks from the band's canon, and the second a revved-up run-through of the 1991 album, Sailing the Seas of Cheese. Not purely surreal, the title is a metaphor for Primus' break into the major-label music world.
"Suddenly, we were going to be marketed alongside Guns 'n' Roses, Bon Jovi, all of these bands that we considered cheesy," Claypool says. "So it was sink or swim." Tickets $30. -- Cristina Diettinger
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