Primus
Though one could argue that all live performances are given in three dimensions, California-based prog/funk trio Primus is launching a 3-D tour unlike any other previously undertaken in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll. Primus faithful in the Hudson Valley will get the first chance to see the far-out fruits of the group’s labor as the two-and-a-half-month US jaunt kicks off at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie this Friday, October 12.
The tour is billed as a fully immersive psychedelic experience, with Quad Surround Sound and visuals designed to spill out of the screen, over the musicians and into the crowd. The Poughkeepsie show will include two sets and the likelihood of some seriously crazy stuff happening, whether they hit unhinged deep back-catalogue cuts like “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” and “John the Fisherman” or hit tracks from their 2011 album Green Naugahyde like “Extinction Burst” or “Jilly’s on Smack.”
For Primus’ bass guitarist, lead vocalist and acknowledged leader Les Claypool, the tour follows the recent auction of a prototype four-string bass, the Les Claypool Pachyderm. The auction was undertaken by Claypool to raise money to benefit his two-year-old nephew Matthew, who has leukemia; the bass, which had been used by the dexterously inventive musician on the road for the previous year, sold for $50,599.99 on eBay in mid-August. According to Claypool, the tour is slated to begin right around the time that Matthew – if all goes according to plan – is ready to go home from the hospital.
Primus’ 3-D tour runs across the country through November before taking a few weeks off, after which a brief holiday-themed version of the 3-D set will stop off in three California cities.
Primus 3-D visits the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie on Friday, October 12 at 8 p.m. General admission tickets cost $39.50 and are available at the Civic Center box office and through TicketMaster. For more information, visit www.midhudsonciviccenter.org and www.primusville.com.