Wonkamus Prime | Primus Live Review + Live Photos | Hard Rock Live Orlando | November 9 2014

by Sean Dorsett • November 13, 2014

Everyone present at Hard Rock Live in Orlando on Sunday night, November the 9th, witnessed the landing of a godly, psychedelic mother-ship infamously known as Primus. And, it completely, 100%, totally, friggin’… SUCKED! 😉

If you’re a true Primus fan, you know what I mean. If not, well, you should know that things are always a little bit contrary and wonky in the land of Primus. This is actually some of the best fudgin’ suck nectar available to mere mortals!

I was sure to snag my golden ticket for their Chocolate Factory tour early on because I knew this tour was not to be missed for anything. Their latest album, Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble, is the first reunion of the original trio since their 1995 album, Tales from the Punchbowl. The return of their drummer, Tim “Herb” Alexander, alone is enough reason for most fans to feel an everlasting, gobstopping sugar high.

This was my first time seeing them live and I could not have been more blown away by what bassist Les Claypool and company had stored up their whimsical wizard sleeves for us.

I could tell that everyone around me had entered the headspace of kids in a candy factory. I’m not sure what they put in that candy though, because things got pretty freakin’ weird.. Especially by the third song, where they seemed to be singing a jolly, bass womping tune about some lady’s big brown beaver. I think it goes something like this:

Heeeee, he he he he he.. You know what? On second thought, who doesn’t enjoy big brown beavers? I think I get it now 🙂

The first bunch of jams were a clever selection of some older favorites, including, at least for me, some of the lesser known titles. It was indeed a rare but proper journey: Sailing the Seas of Cheese, sipping a healthy dose of Pork Soda to some Tales from the Punchbowl, and having a tasty sampling of the ever-tasty Frizzle Fry while trying some Green Naugahyde out for size. Whew, yeah, that’s still much too tight.

I was surprised to see the red stage curtains close and signify the end of the set after only about eight songs, but as it turns out, they were just preparing for their second set, the real showcase of their intergalactic tour.

When the curtains reopened, the landscape of the stage had changed completely. There were giant, puffy, alien mushrooms that had apparently grown on both sides and the band seemed to have transformed into Wonkadelic space cadets. We were all ready to finally board that mothership with them and sail through some zany, cotton candy waves on our way to Claypool’s illustrious chocolate factory.

It’s a good thing some stumpy Oompa Loompas with gigantic heads revealed themselves when things were starting to intensify because I was just starting to think this all might be getting a little too strange for my own good (here’s a great pic Matt took, check out the rest of his photos below).

A surreal ride indeed, it seemed for awhile like we were going off the deep end, but then I realized we had just entered a land of Pure Imagination. There was nothing to fear because there was plenty of bizarre, tasty ear candy for everyone to enjoy!

After a wondrous trip through the Primus factory, we were all handed some creepy, old, gnarled farewell gifts:

“My Name Is Mud”
“Jerry Was a Race Car Driver”
“The Heckler”
“Here Come the Bastards”

That’s pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. Yummy. I can’t say there was anything lacking from this performance except “Tommy the Cat,” but maybe next time Primus comes back from their alien planet they will remember to bring him.

Primus Live Review by Sean Dorsett.