A fabulous night at the RAH – Primus were magnificent and the crowd were treated to a huge set of Primus favourites going back as far as ‘Frizzle Fry’ and through to ‘Green Naugahyde’.
I’m not sure if I have ever seen a mosh pit at the Albert Hall before but the core of those standing in the arena were going at it with gusto and, apart from one wazzock who jumped on stage and stole Claypool’s hat, were well received by security.

Primus are so much more than just the fizzing and popping bass of Les Claypool and watching Primus is to begin to understand how the sum of the parts is greater than the value of the parts alone. Les Claypool has made other, great, music with other artists but did not make Primus music. Larry LaLonde is a remarkable guitarist and Jay Lane is one of the few drummers who could avoid getting lost behind Claypool’s music and together with Claypool they make Primus.

There really isn’t any band in the world who even resemble Primus and to see them at this peak was doubly remarkable.
Their apparent jamming is actually very tightly played and although the impression is of making it up on the spot all three of the musicians have distinct roles and huge skill. Even the loss of Claypool's favorite Derby (bowler) didn't reallyy throw them off their thread as Claypool dissapeared backstage to come back out with a magnificent pith helmet while the others continued the riff.

After opening with ‘’To Defy The Laws Of Tradition’ they mixed it all up with tracks like ‘Frizzle Fry’ and ‘Sea of Cheese’ getting huge applause and triggering frantic moshing every time Clapool went walkabout in those strange circles of his. ‘Jerry Was A Race Car Driver’ got great reactions from the crowd but the biggest cheers came in the second set where ‘Jilly’s On Smack’ and ‘Southbound Pachyderm’ were standouts.
Personally I was chuffed to bits to see ‘Lee Van Cleef’ and ‘Last Salmon Man’ from the new album but ‘Eyes Of The Squirrel’ was quite chilling and the second encore of ‘Too Many Puppies’ sent us all out very satisfied.

Primus simply rocked the old place and there really isn’t anyone to match them – awesome.


Set I
1. To Defy the Laws of Tradition
2. Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread
3. Prelude to a Crawl
4. Moron TV
5. Frizzle Fry
6. Over the Falls
7. Tragedy's a' Comin
8. Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
9. Over the Electric Grapevine
Set II
10. Jilly's on Smack
11. John the Fisherman
12. Fisticuffs
13. Southbound Pachyderm
(Stage rusher grabs Les' hat)
14. Seas of Cheese
15. Mr. Krinkle
16. Eyes of the Squirrel
17. Last Salmon Man
18. Lee Van Cleef
19. Voodoo Child (Tease)
20. Harold of the Rocks
Encore:
21. My Name Is Mud
22. Too Many Puppies