by Brittney Corridean
Wednesday was a cold, rainy night but it didn’t stop Primus fans from waiting to see the band on their Willy Wonka-inspired tour. The line for the Tower Theater stretched around the building and the will-call box, which was blowing up with some last minute ticket shoppers.
Once you enter the venue, it really does look like an old fashioned theater. There is a large main bar to your left and to your right is where the show is held. The walls looked to be colored in ivory and gold and there are balconies that circled around the tops of the walls by the stage. They appeared to be caged off except for the center part that has the VIP seating; surely it’s a stellar view.
Something that can certainly be stated about Primus fans is that they are pretty dedicated. There were more than a handful of people in ridiculous costumes such as teal bathrobes with SpongeBob shirts peeking out; others wore top hats in tribute the Chocolate Factory tour. Some were asking others to take pictures of the merchandise that they bought while posing with another concert goer. It looked more like a party more than anything else.
The scent of cannabis and anticipation hovered over the crowd as they waited for Primus to start the first night of their tour. Honestly, the atmosphere itself resembled something like a metropolitan style renaissance fair. It would’ve been next to impossible to not channel in the energy of excitement everyone had to see the eccentric bass slapping of Les Claypool.
photos by Brittney Corridean
During the first set they played, the stage was bleak. The only things to look at were the three band members and some colorful spotlighting. This didn’t stop the crowd from going wild and somehow continuously gravitating to the front. This one was obviously more for the old school classic like “Jerry Was a Racecar Driver” and “My Name is Mud”. After the first set there was a brief intermission, which made sense one you saw what the stage became for round two.
The giant red curtain that masked the stage’s transformation slowly started to go up and everyone went nuts. The shenanigans that covered the stage looked like a tripped out version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was obviously the point. There were oversized mushrooms, lollipops and candy bars. A distorted version of the film playing throughout mixed in with some old fashioned boxing videos and whatever else could possibly be mesh in with the scenes.
Each song did stay in stream with the movie, a great timeline so you could follow along with the songs being played. It made this already devious, dark film even more lucid with its creepy ways. It was awesome! The low bass and vocals of “Pure Imagination” and “Sinister Mr. Slugworth” gave the perfect eerie effect to the film.
Claypool wore a long beaked masquerade mask and the keyboardist/bongo/xylophone player was dressed like a butler. Each member had a part to the crazy that was displayed on stage and it kept the audience in astonishment the entire time. When the giant headed oompa-loompas came out, it created a fun stir among the crowd and had everyone in laughter and amazement. They didn’t miss a beat the entire show and it’s very likely no one left early, in fear of missing what would be next.
It’s no doubt that Primus knows how to put on a good show. For those who may venture in the future to catch these guys perform, be prepared for some weird shit, but a hell of a good time.
