St-Catherine was alive with activity as the Just For Laughs Festival was underway and also the main Montreal festival being the “Road Construction Festival” going on all over the island of Montreal all summer long. It was amid this frenzy of activity that Primus & The Chocolate Factory with Fungi Ensemble decided to grace our fine city with their presence.
I first heard Primus around the Frizzle Fry years and was attracted to the Zappa-like humor along with that incredible bass and double bass drums. Finding a band like Primus was a rare treasure, a band one could enjoy knowing that it stood out from all the surrounding factory of pop music. It turns out that I was not alone in finding this unorthodox sound, as they soon grew in popularity and legendary status. It was with great anticipation, being surrounded by fans shouting: “Primus Sucks!”, an inside joke started by the band, that I stood waiting to hear that distinctive bass. I had yet to see the famed super powered thumb in action, slapping that bass like it did something bad. After all, this is the band that is so distinct, it has it’s own ID3v1 genre tag!
The opening band was composed of Larry LaLonde, Tim Alexander and Les Claypool of a sugar-free Primus. As the infectious bass starts, the crowd starts clapping along to the sounds of “Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweakers” off Sailing the Seas of Cheese.
The avid fisherman, Les Claypool, next sings about the decline of the salmon fishing industry in Northern California with “Last Salmon Man”. The song features a great midsection that allows for improvisation and guitar riffs by Larry LaLonde. The crowd responded by letting loose in the pit.
Les spoke to us about checking out the JFL festival and almost trying a Poutine, being restrained by Larry who warned of a possible bellyache as a possible side effect. This elicited boos from the crowd, proud of our delicacy: The Poutine. I have to admit, a good Poutine is my Kryptonite.
The next song was also related to fishing, inspired by Les spotting a giant brown beaver that gave him quite a scare during a starring standoff. This song, which was simply considered filler placed between songs for comic relief, eventually became one of their most popular. The popularity was surely due to the attention the absurd video got on MTV. You can reminisce by watching it here. It was however not popular with Winona Ryder’s then boyfriend David Pirner, who apparently was not aware the song had nothing to do with the actress linked to the actor who was the modern day Willy Wonka.
The “Heckler” followed with its chorus: “It’s just a matter of opinion.” Several bands such as the Deftones, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Incubus and Muse are of the opinion that their Primus was a big influence on their sound.
As the crowd chants: “Primus Sucks”, Les states: “What are you talking about?” I think the inside joke is getting old. He asks the crowd to chant it in French, but eventually reveals that it just doesn’t have that same Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.
“Lee Van Cleef” with its infection groove and strong bass intro was next played, a nod to the spaghetti western films this actor was known for, such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The next song was from The Brown Album, which Tom Waits loved. If it is good enough for Tom Waits…count me in! “Over the Falls” to me is about the determination to do something, no matter how scary it may seem. What is your waterfall? Are you ready to strap yourself in and enjoy the ride?
We were next transported to the “irregular inside world” of “Frizzle Fry”. Oh…to spend some time in the mind of Les Claypool! We would soon be privy to one of his most obsessive movies, until Jaws came along, but not until a few more classics were performed.
“My Name is Mud” activated the crowd. I was amazed at the seemingly ease of this classic riff as the ever agile Les navigated his bass which seemed to be a natural extension of his body.
The first set ended with a song that had the crowd and I doing the pogo: “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”, probably one of my favorite Primus songs, second to Tommy the Cat with its Tom Waits intro.
Thus ended the opening band’s set.
After a brief intermission, the full stage was revealed, one with candy props and giant Super Mario Bros mushrooms. The band was joined by the Fungi Ensemble, Mike Dillon (Vibraphone) and Sam Bass (Cello), for the Primus soundtrack remake of the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
We were instantly transported into the mind of Les Claypool while clips of the movie played in the background. The whole album was played in the order in which it was presented in 2014. You can find it here.
It was during the creepy “Candy Man” that we get to appreciate the massive drums and trinkets that Tim Alexander would use throughout the show.
The crowd at the Metropolis appreciated “Golden Ticket” as well as “I Want It Now” which was sung by Larry LaLonde.
One of the songs I enjoyed the most from this set was the very trippy “Semi-Wondrous Boat Ride” with its Pink Floyd like intro.
Peppered through the set was the appearance of the Giant Umpa Lumpa dancing heads, a well as some serious Xylophone solos as seen here.
The velvet curtain ended the dreamlike performance of the Chocolate Factory and the crowd yet again reverted to the “Primus Sucks” chant.
The Metropolis was about to experience a strong closing set of 3 classic songs. The first song using a play on words on the phrase “Dogs of War”, speaks of soldiers being far too young to fight: “Too Many Puppies”
Another song about animals, this time the dwindling elephant population is addressed in “Southbound Pachyderm” which was instantly recognized from the first few bars. One lone fan waved his solitary lighter for the opening of the song, but alas, it was not meant to be a joined lighter experience.
We were surprised to see a montage of videos featuring the Umpa Lumpa duo dancing around various Montreal landmarks such as the Vanquelin Fountain in Old Montreal as well as the Bell Center displaying the Canadians logo to a much appreciative crowd.
The show ended with “Here Comes the Bastards” from sailing the Seas of Cheese, which could now be aptly called sailing the Seas of Chocolate.
As the curtain dropped, the fans stomped their feet in the dim light, hoping for another encore. Like in a dream, we heard the faint sounds of Les Claypool seemingly talking behind the curtain, giving the fans hope that they may get more classic musical nuggets from their back catalogue of songs. Their applaud escalated as the curtain rose, much to the surprise of the multitude of roadies who were busy taking the set apart. In that instant, we awoke from our dream, in search of merchandise, including custom posters with original graphics for every town on the tour.
Another great Evenko production left us wanting more, but satisfied with the strangely dreamlike experience of the creative mind of Les Claypool and his talented band, now 31 years into their adventurous musical journey.
Review – Randal Wark
Photos – Ashley MacPhee
