Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: probably same material as fall 1995

1997 - Europe, HORDE, Brown Tour

Primus played several weeks of warm up shows at European festivals, followed by the HORDE festival in 07-08/97, playing roughly 60 min sets. Primus then headlined its own fall tour from 09-11/97, playing 80-100 min shows. Most of the Brown album material was introduced during these tours. While the Europe and HORDE shows were fairly routine festival appearances, by the fall tour the band sounded energized, comfortable and willing to stretch. Although the Brown album lacked a clear single and did not sell as strongly as its predecessors, due to the band's artistic integrity, extensive archive of material and live reputation, concert draw remained stable.

Regular new material added: Bob's Party Time Lounge, Coddingtown, Duchess, Golden Boy, Fisticuffs, Kalamazoo, Over the Falls, Puddin' Taine, Shake Hands With Beef; Highball With the Devil, Awakening
Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: 30

1998 - Sno Core, Europe

Band headlined Sno Core Tour in 02-03/98, playing 75 min sets and dropping several of the Brown songs featured in 1997. Several Rhinoplasty covers were premiered, and DJ Disk became a semi-regular contributor at shows. There were some Australia shows in 4/98, followed by a full Europe tour in 05-06/98. The band then went back into the studio, playing only the Videoplasty show in 10/98 and the two night Freakout. Although there was little in terms of new material, the quality of the shows and the energy of the performances remained high.

Regular new material added: Chastizing of Renegade; Scissor Man, Silly Putty
Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: 30

1999 - Ozzfest, Family Values, Antipop

The band played a grueling summer schedule on the Ozzfest tour (05-07/99), with 40 minute long, very repetitive shows making for a rather boring tour. The only highlights were the addition of Antipop and the nightly appearance of Buckethead. After a second similar festival tour, the 10/99 Family Values, the band embarked on a headlining tour in 11/99, playing 80 min shows. Over the two fall tours, the remaining songs from the Antipop album that the band would end up playing live made their appearances. Major highlights included the reintroduction of Sgt. Baker and the Groundhog's Day jams by Ler. However, despite a few set additions, this was a repetitive tour and the band continued to underutilize Buckethead's potential, keeping his participation limited to the same two songs nightly.

Regular new material added: Antipop, Electric Uncle Sam, Final Voyage, Greet the Sacred Cow, Laquer Head; Ballad Of Buckethead, Crazy Train
Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: 21

2000 - Antipop Tour Leg 2, Australia

The 02/2000 shows, meant to cover secondary US cities missed on the prior tour, had even more restricted setlists and lacked the extra punch of a Buckethead appearance. While sets did have a few extras, including the reincarnation of In the Flesh, most shows clocked it at just 60-70 minutes and sounded tired. An exception must be made for the handful of 4/00 Australia shows, when the band played loose, interesting sets and was clearly enjoying themselves once more.

Regular new material added: Heart of the Sunrise
Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: 21

2003 - Tour de Fromage Leg 1

When Primus went on hiatus, in a 2001 interview (One Of those Peniuses - can be found on lesclaypool.com) Les lamented what Primus had become circa Antipop and vowed that a reunited Primus would have to be the trio with Ler and Tim. He cited the Seas of Cheese album as Primus at its most unique and focused, and stated that Primus had the material and hardcore crowd for two set shows (i.e. without an opening band), but that the record label had not supported his interest. Claypool went on to form the Frog Brigade, became accepted in the jam band community, and subsequently formed other improvisation oriented bands. When Alexander joined the Frog Brigade for their summer 2002 tour, the atmosphere was set for a Primus reunion.

In the fall of 2003, the trio of Les, Ler and Tim released the Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People EP/DVD and engaged upon the groundbreaking Tour de Fromage. Claypool made good on every statement he had made nearly 3 years earlier. For the first time in their long career, Primus played two full sets every night, with the first set and encore changing nightly. The second set was a complete rendition of the Sailing the Seas of Cheese album! Besides the fact that some of these songs were being dusted off for the first time in a decade, there were new extended arrangements (Cheese, Sathington Waltz, Los Bastardos) and many songs became major jam vehicles for the first time (Toys, American Life, Los Bastardos, Sturgeon, Nature Boy, Pressman, Grapevine). Nightly guests included Bob Cock on Sathington Waltz and multiple musicians on Los Bastardos. Tim got into the act and for the first time incorporated a massive drum solo into each show, with a segue into his famous Eleven intro. Even though the band stuck to Alexander era material (Frizzle Fry through Punchbowl plus new songs), overall this tour witnessed a more variegated setlist than any prior tours. Claypool's participation in the jam band scene spilled over into Primus, with the band reinventing itself into a long playing (first sets ranged from 50-75 minutes, the Seas of Cheese set ran 80-100), improv oriented act. In another nod to the jam band ethos, this landmark tour was documented via the opening of primuslive.com, an official live show download site, allowing fans to buy complete shows for the entire tour. In 2006, a tour documentary DVD, Blame It On the Fish, was also released. To date, Primus' best tour!

Regular new material added: Carpenter and the Dainty Bride, Drum/Whamola Jam, Last Superpower, Los Bastardos, Mary the Ice Cube, My Friend Fats, Pilcher's Squad

Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: 48

2004 - Tour de Fromage Leg 2, Hallucino Genetics

The second leg of Tour de Fromage saw minor set list changes (DMV and Del Davis disappeared, Pilcher's Squad was only played once) but essentially continued the Seas Of Cheese onslaught in cities that had been missed on the first tour.

The summer 2004 Hallucino Genetics tour saw Primus sticking with the same formula, but switching gears to play the entire Frizzle Fry album as their second set. Even though the ten major album numbers had already been heavily rotated on the two prior tours, Sathington Willoughby and To Defy were both fleshed out and debuted for their one tour performance. You Can't Kill Michael Malloy was extended to provide a 3 minute break for the band mid-set. The massive Drum/Whamola jams found a new home before Spegetti, and often incorporated Tim's signature groove into the beginning of the drum solos. With all these changes, the Frizzle Fry set grew to roughly 90 minutes in length!

The two set format also carried over, although the by now heavily overplayed Cheese material dominated (if Tour de Fromage was Seas Of Cheese nightly with a heavy dose of Frizzle Fry, this tour was nightly Frizzle with a whole lot of Cheese). Luckily, there were some nice surprise covers: the premiere of two classic Rush instrumentals (the first ever complete YYZ and the lengthy La Villa Strangiato), presumably Primus' way of celebrating Rush's 30th anniversary, and one time performances of Lone Rhinoceros and Thela (with Adrian Belew!) and Zappa's Dumb All Over. Compared to the Tour de Fromage, this was a worthy follow up, albeit more repetitive from a bootlegging/show attendance standpoint, as only 3 of the 13 Frizzle Fry album numbers actually included jams.

This tour was commemorated with Primus' first live DVD, the eponymously titled Hallucino Genetics Live 2004, which captured the entire tour closing 6/26/04 show (unfortunately not one of the best shows of the tour). Just like the previous tour, all shows were also made available on primuslive.com for download.

Regular new material added: Sathington Willoughby, To Defy; La Villa Strangiato, YYZ (complete)
Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: 42

2006 - Beat A Dead Horse Tour

Compared to the monstrous tours of 2003-4, this was a more modest affair. There was no new album of material to support, although ostensibly this tour followed the They Can't All Be Zingers greatest hits CD. The shows were scaled back to one set ranging from 10-13 songs (75 to 100 minutes, depending on the jams). None of the 2003 material was played (barring one off the cuff instrumental performance of Mary), and Drum/Whamola Jams were sporadic. Sets continued to feature 1989-96 material, with a heavy emphasis once again on Frizzle Fry and Seas of Cheese songs. There were some nice surprises however: Tim for the first time played a Brain era song (3 performances of Shake Hands With Beef) and both Wynona and De Anza Jig terrorized setlists for the first time in a decade. Although Primus continued the improv oriented format, unfortunately they decided not to make shows available for download on primuslive.com. Overall, one of the band's better tours, but one that pales in comparison to the potential exhibited in 2003-4.

Regular new material added: none
Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour: 30

Summer-Fall 2010

Hailed as the return of Jay Lane to the lineup (he had been in the band for perhaps 6-12 months in 1988), Les commented in interviews that he had wanted to play again with Lane (see drummers' part of website; Lane was also in Sausage, the 2000-winter 2001 first incarnation of the Frog Brigade, and the 2005 first incarnation of the Fancy Band). The incorporation of Lane into the Primus lineup had not been previously possible due to his commitments as an integral member of Bob Weir’s Ratdog since the mid 90s. When Ratdog announced a summer lineup with Joe Russo on drums (from Russo-Benevento Duo) and Lane relegated to recreating Mickey Hart’s role as percussionist, the stage was set to abscond Lane into Primus. The introduction of a third drummer (since Primus became a known act) confirmed that Les considers Primus the unique chemistry between himself and Ler Lalonde. 

The majority of the shows consisted of the standard single set and encore format, although there were two shows (styled ‘an evening with Primus’) consisting of 2 variegated sets each, a first ever for Primus (the 2 set arrangement of the 2003-4 shows always featured an album cover set). In keeping with latter day, post hiatus Primus format, most of the songs featured significant improvisations. In fact, the amount and quality of the improv put this tour on a par with the 2003-4 Alexander reunion tours. The tour material consisted predominantly of Primus originals from Frizzle through Brown albums, leaning more heavily on Frizzle Fry and Seas Of Cheese (they played one song off Antipop; the Animals 2003 EP was not touched). Jay Lane proved himself capable of faithfully reproducing Tim’s unique and complex parts (which Brain had at times simplified), while demonstrating his own unique grooves, fills and hi hat playing during nightly Drum/Whamola jams. Typically known as a groove oriented small kit player, he expanded his arsenal with Octobans and splash cymbals (to recreate some of Tim’s classic parts), as well as a percussion tray. The band premiered Coattails (as Primus; Les had played it solo rarely in 2008; the Brain era Primus had never performed it) and several covers (Behind My Camel and Big In Japan). This lineup also resurrected several Brown album songs not played since 1998-2000, as well as several rare Cheese and Frizzle tracks last heard in 2004, as the band performed Frizzle Fry in full twice, as well as one complete rendition of Seas of Cheese.

This lineup/tour introduced the following complete songs: ~ 40

·        Claypool originals: Coattails Of A Dead Man

·        Covers: Behind My Camel, Big In Japan

·        Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour:  

NYE 2010 and Spring-Summer 2011

The band continued to play Primus material from the Frizzle-Brown eras, while introducing 9 new original compositions off the upcoming Green Naugahyde album. As the tour wound down, Primus also started playing Les’ Frog Brigade composition Whamola. Following on the heels of the Fungi band playing Europe and Australia in 2010, Les also took Primus to Europe (first time since 1998) and Australia (first time since 2000).

This lineup/tour introduced the following complete songs:

·        Claypool originals: Eyes Of the Squirrel, Green Ranger, Prelude to a Crawl > Hennepin Crawler, Jilly’s On Smack, Last Salmon Man, Lee Van Cleef, Moron TV, Tragedy’s A Comin, Whamola

·        Covers: Tomorrow Never Knows

Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour:  ~ 45

Fall 2011

The band returned to the US to promote its new album with a full tour. While the first set and encore featured rotating material nightly, the second set consisted of the Green Naugahyde album in its entirety (some fans started calling it Tour de Naugahyde), with the last 3 proper songs off the album making their debut. Les raved in reviews about Lane's role in the compositions, the reinvigorated interest in the band, and how much they enjoyed playing the new material. Unlike the heavily improvised Cheese and even Frizzle Fry album rendition tours, most of the Naugahyde material was played like the studio versions, so that with various intros, instrument changeovers and banter, the 50 minute studio album became a consistent 65 minute set. This tour also saw the return of Wynona (first time since fall 2006) and allowed the relatively rare Mrs Blaileen and Pressman to terrorize setlists. 

·        Claypool originals: Eternal Combustion Engine, HOINFODAMAN, Extinction Burst

·        Covers: Hawaii 5-0 Theme, Hukilau Song

·        Total # Complete Songs Played On Tour:   46

Special Shows

Historically Important Shows

• xx/xx/88 - Briefly shown on the DVD portion of Animals is Les' last show with Huth and Lane, signaling the transition into the lineup with Ler and Tim.
• 02/25/89 - Suck On This recording at Berkeley Square; provides good example of band sound and setlists right after Tim joined.
• 08/13/94 - Woodstock! Primus plays in front of more fans than at any other time in their career. My Name Is Mud makes the moshpit explode (Les bragged for years afterwards about how he couldn't get the mud chunks off his bass amp), and Cantrell sits in on Harold.
• 10/14/98 - VIDEOPLASTY recording. A clearly superior 1998 show, highlights include the return (albeit short lived) of Mr. Know It All, the first formal live sit in by Buckethead (he had sat in on the live in the studio only netcast on 8/12/98), and DJ Disk on three songs.
• 10/13/03 - The triumphant reunion of Les, Ler and Tim on the opening night of the historic Tour de Fromage, including the premieres of Pilcher's Squad, Carpenter and the Dainty Bride, Los Bastardos and the Drum/Whamola Jam.
• 06/12/04 - Bonnaroo festival appearance. Primus plays a single massive 2 hour set (breaking the two set format of the summer 2004 tour), including Adrian Belew sitting in on three songs.
• 06/26/04 - Final night of Hallucino Genetics tour (completing three tours worth of 2 set, two and a half hour long shows), commemorated with release of Primus' first live DVD.
• 07/23/05 - The one night only Lollapalooza reunion, harking back to Primus' glory days in 1993. Les delivers a one-two punch, as Fancy Band plays a theater show the prior night with both Tim and Ler sitting in.
• 09/14/10 – The first show of the fall 2010 tour, the set consisted of a complete rendition of Frizzle Fry, a first for Jay Lane (they did it several nights later again; see classic shows), and a rare dusting off of Shake Hands with Beef (also a first for Lane).
• 06/10/11 – Jay Lane lineup Primus plays Bonnaroo (Primus played it with Tim in 2004)

New Year’s Eve

• 12/31/92 - The first Freakout, this show has a long set list (24 songs), including all three Residents covers played in a row. Mr. Bungle and the Melvins opened!
• 12/31/93 - Another longer than average setlist (23 songs), including the premiere of Thela Hun Ginjeet.
• 12/31/94 - This show came in the middle of the Punchbowl sessions, and thus featured the premieres of Wynona (with different lyrics!), Year of the Parrot, Professor Nutbutter and On the Tweek Again (the latter two as partial instrumentals during an amazing Tommy medley). Other highlights include an instrumental Spegetti NYE countdown and an alternate version of Puppies with Les on upright.
• 12/31/95 - Actually a pretty standard Punchbowl show; nothing rare or juicy. Tool did open, however.
• 12/31/96 - The first Freakout with Brain, and his first official live show with Primus. The band premiered Golden Boy, Coddingtown and the Awakening, played a one time (with Brain) version of De Anza Jig, and added a one time cover of Zeppelin's Rock and Roll, with Bob Cock on vocals.
• 12/31/97 - Actually a pretty standard fall 1997 show, albeit with Bob Cock on vocals for a one time cover of White Zombie's Super Charger Heaven. Tommy > Awakening medley and Bob's Party Time Lounge were released on Rhinoplasty.
• 12/30-31/98 - The first ever 2 night holiday run, highlights include the triumphant return of both Bob (jammed for the first time) and Air Is Getting Slippery, Bastards with Tim on the drums (his first guest performance since leaving the band), and one off renditions of  Mr. Know It All and Prince's 1999 with Bob Cock on vocals.
• 12/31/99 - setlist not available
• 12/30-31/10 – a special two night run, with openers including the Residents on 12/30, and a Les solo band mash up lineup the second night (think Fancy meets Frog Brigade). The first night consisted of a one time complete rendition of Seas Of Cheese a la Tour de Fromage (while Lane had been routinely playing most of the album material, this was a one time dusting off of rarities like Grandma’s, Fish On, Sathington Waltz and Los Bastardos) and the premiere of the first Primus original song written with Jay Lane (Last Salmon Man). The second night featured no repeats except the new song, and a one time only Primus rendition of TNK with multiple guests.
• 12/31/11-1/1/12 - the first night featured 2 variegated sets, including 2 one off Hawaiian themed covers (originally the band was supposed to play a holiday show in Hawaii with Jane's Addiction, but it got cancelled). The second night was a standard fall 2011 show, with a Green Naugahyde second set. While there were no repeats otherwise, the band had played a half dozen Naugahyde songs the night before. Overall the choice of material was similar to what was played on the fall tour.

TV/Radio/Movie Appearances

• 05/03/89 - Stanford University KZSU Radio - This was a live in the studio audio and video simulcast (the audio version has a bonus surprise - a rare cover of Floyd's Run Like Hell). The Animals DVD includes the videos of To Defy, Puppies and Frizzle Fry (bootleg quality - despite the commentary that this footage was found by Les in storage, it actually came from the two dapper Primus fans who happen to run this website)
• xx/xx/90 - MTV Headbanger's Ball - John the Fisherman
• Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey - Tommy the Cat (excerpt)
• xx/xx/92 - Dennis Miller Show - Jerry, YYZ > Tommy the Cat > Tippi Toes
• xx/xx/93 - MTV Beach Party - Tommy the Cat, Jerry was a Racecar Driver
• 10/31/93 - MTV Halloween Special - My Name Is Mud, Jerry Was a Racecar Driver
• xx/xx/95 - David Letterman - Wynona's Big Brown Beaver (Dressed as Penguins)
• xx/xx/95 - Conan O' Brian - Mrs. Blaileen (Dressed in Suits)
• xx/xx/97 - Conan O' Brian - Shake Hands with Beef
• 05/11/98 - HBO Reverb - John, Duchess, Kalamazoo, Mud, Jerry (unfortunately not shown was the premiere of Family and the Fishing Net)
• 09/21/97 - Modern Rock Live Radio - Duchess, Tommy > Awakening, Golden Boy
• 03/03/00 - Farmclub (USA network) - Antipop, Laquer Head, Greet the Sacred Cow
•  09/15/10 - Jimmy Kimmel live – Pudding Time, Golden Boy, Tommy/Awakening, Tweekers, Grapevine
• 10/24/11 - Jimmy Kimmel Live - Lee Van Cleef, Jilly, Tweekers, Moron TV

Classic Shows

Bob Cock and the Yellow Sock

There are just a handful of these shows. This can only be described as lounge-jazz Primus with Bob Cock on vocals. Les is on upright bass (the big acoustic jazz type), Ler plays jazzy electric, and Tim is on a tiny jazz kit playing brushes. Les has mentioned in interviews that he would love to do MTV Unplugged, but that they always turned Primus down. All performances are must hear, as all Primus songs are featured in radically different arrangements.

• 05/14/90 - The highlight of this mini set is In the Flesh with Bob Cock on vocals.
• 05/25/92 - The longest BC&YS show, highlights include one time covers of Hey Joe, Immigrant Song and Shiny Happy People, the premiere of the untitled disco instrumental and guests Bob Cock and Nervous Eddie. While all the BC&YS shows are special, if ever there was a Primus top-10 shows list, this belongs on it. Cheesy Home video includes a brief bootleg quality video segment of John; the Animals DVD includes a complete Tommy.
• 12/11/93 - The highlight is the second ever performance of the untitled disco instrumental, with Bob Cock and Angelo Moore on an epic 11 minute performance. A great mini-set, but nothing new in light of the 05/25/92 show.

Other

• 03/20/92 - Highlights include Angelo Moore sitting in, the BC&YS version of John, and a smoking 15 minute medley of drum solo > Intruder > Tommy with Ler, Todd Huth and a third guitarist all getting a chance to solo at length.
• 05/03/92 - Half of the Pork Soda album is premiered live at this show!
• 10/01/93 - Greek Theater (one of Les' fave venues). Night of DMV video shoot; also long jam in Tweekers, rare second encore (Master Of Puppets).
• 01/07/94 - A short set for the Nutmegalomaniac party, but includes a rare Thela and Maynard from Tool on Bastards.
• 06/03/95 - WHFestival appearance and the band's first show of the year. The short set includes the first ever Mrs. Blaileen, Wynona (w/ proper lyrics) and ProfNutbutter (first complete version w/ lyrics). Joe Gore sits in for a nice jam during Tweekers.
• 01/09/96 - The only known all banjo show; celebrating the release of the CD-ROM version of Punchbowl and the Residents' Bad Day On the Midway CD-ROM. Highlights include Hello Skinny with one of the Residents on vocals, and an amazing Tommy jam with multiple teases.
• 09/25/97 - Opening night of Brown fall tour, highlights include premieres of Kalamazoo and Bob's Party Time Lounge, first known appearance by DJ Disk and a rare Thing That Should Not Be.
• 02/04/98 - A benefit concert for deceased percussionist Calder Spanier, this short set abounds with highlights: Carl Young on sax on Groundhog's Day, the premieres of Silly Putty and Scissor Man (an amazing 10 minute rendition), both with DJ Disk; then Disk and percussionist Scott Amendola jamming with Brain, followed by Primus, Disk and rappers Franti and Pollywog on Spearhead's Food For the Masses. Primus also played on 2 songs with the above guests as the Primus-Spearhead all-stars (see One Time Only Shows/Unique Live Collaborations section).
• 8/12/98 - Internet Infiltration. A live in the studio web cast to promote the release of Rhinoplasty, this was one of the most amazing shows Primus ever put on. Highlights are endless, including the multitude of guest stars (Buckethead, Bob Cock, Marc Asseguedo, MIRV), the one off performances (complete rendition of The Thing That Should Not Be, Atomic Punk) and multiple off the cuff jams, including a reggae jam out of the Metallica cover and a free standing synth oriented jam.
• 07/25/99 - An absolutely monstrous post-Ozzfest gig with the band loving the opportunity to play material they had denied themselves for months. Includes great versions of Tweekers and Tommy, both with Buckethead.
• 10/19/99 - In store show at Tower Records to commemorate release of Antipop record. A loose set with no pre-determined setlist, including an old school Pudding Time > Sgt Baker > Skinny medley, and a Sgt Baker excerpt (a preview of the return of this song on the Antipop tour after a seven year hiatus).
• 06/16/04 - One of the best shows of the summer 2004 tour, with a smoking first set highlighted by the massive Tommy > Sturgeon > Tommy medley.
• 11/10/06 - Les having vocal difficulties prompts the most interesting show of the fall tour, with extremely rare comebacks of Hamburger Train and Master of Puppets, as well as the Drum/Whamola Jam.
• 07/18/10 – The premiere of the new lineup with Jay Lane and a warm up for the summer tour, this show is special for several reasons. Besides featuring two full sets of variegated Primus material (a first for the band, as all prior 2 set shows in 2003-4 had devoted the second set to covering an album in its entirety), the band premiered Behind My Camel, and resurrected a number of long forgotten Brown album tracks (Golden Boy, Kalamazoo, Over the Falls).
• 09/16-17/10 – A two night run with hardly any repeats, the first night consisted of a complete rendition of Frizzle Fry, the second night was a more standard 2010 setlist.
•  10/05/10 – The second ever show to feature two full sets of variegated Primus material
•  07/13/11 – The Europe tour closing show, the band premiered Whamola and played an encore medley of Frizzle/Cheese fan faves.