An evening with Primus

[Hobes]

After returning to the UK for the first time in 14 years in 2011, for 2 special sold out shows, the band have already announced their return for 2012. Primus will play 2 special nights, 2 different shows at London's Royal Albert Hall on April 4 + 5.

I haven't been to a gig for a few years now, in fact I can't even remember which gig was the last I went to (STP at Rock City?) and I've never been inside the Royal Albert Hall before. So, I have sacrificed a weeks shopping and have booked two tickets for the second night, a thursday. I've book seats rather than standing to encourage the missus to attend.

I shall be driving down from Lincolnshire on the night of the gig and travelling back afterwards. Is this doable? Is there reasonably priced parking close(ish) or am I better off parking at say... Cockfosters (sniggers) and getting the tube in? Is sensible, or even possible late at night?

Is anyone else planning to go? A lot of seem to be of my generation/and have similar tastes in music... I haven't a clue what to expect either.. sitting at a Primus gig seems .... wrong.

Hugs

Hobo xxx

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

This is the first I've heard of any of this. I've been on a bit of a Faith No More Binge lately and rueing the fact that I missed their reunion shows (and also the recent, Pulp, Kyuss Lives and QOTSA gigs), so I may well make the effort for one of these. Although Primus aren't as good as FNM, being something of a singles band.

[Noodle Lizard]

Primus.

They're not quite Mr Bungle are they?

[Noodle Lizard]

I've been on a bit of a Faith No More Binge lately and rueing the fact that I missed their reunion shows

You and me both, sir.  I only got into them as a result of seeing their Download Festival performance being streamed - alas, they haven't come back to the UK since then (Reading and Leeds 09 aside).  Although they are still doing shows this year, so maybe next year we'll get lucky.

I also wouldn't say no to other Patton projects like Fantomas or Peeping Tom or (especially) Mondo Cane.

OR the imaginary Bungle reunion.

[Hobes]

Mr Bungle? never heard any of there stuff if I'm honest. Faith No More? pah. Amatures. A few good singles (Epic, midlife crisis etc), a lyric that mentions the transformers and thats about it isn't it?

[Joeyjojo]

Not sure of travel plans, but I think it'll be a pretty cool gig - I saw them at Brixton Academy and (assuming there's video screens) the only thing you'll miss out on is jumping around to the hits.  Their new stuff, which makes up about half the show, is pretty slow and atmospheric - would sound great in the RAH.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Faith No More? pah. Amatures. A few good singles (Epic, midlife crisis etc), a lyric that mentions the transformers and thats about it isn't it?

Them's fightin' words!

[Noodle Lizard]

Mr Bungle? never heard any of there stuff if I'm honest. Faith No More? pah. Amatures. A few good singles (Epic, midlife crisis etc), a lyric that mentions the transformers and thats about it isn't it?

FNM's singles were probably among their less good songs.

Amateurs?  Oh I don't even ...

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Aw butternuts! It seems that standing tickets for near the stage are sold out already and I'm confused by the seating plan and, in fact, the very notion of sitting down at a rock gig.

[Hobes]

... the very notion of sitting down at a rock gig.

See, it wasn't just me. In the end I just went for the second cheapest (being a debt ridden public sector worker) seats before noticing the royal Albert Hall Website has a seating plan.

Anyway, Mr Bungle passed me by, could someone sell them to me, I've only recently got into the Pixies this year and the Stone Roses about 4 years ago, so I realise I was blinkered to a lot of quality from that era.

As I grew up in a middle class boarding school (armed forces) (middle class means no soggy buscuit but plenty of bumming) my musical tastes were limited to the things I could borrow off friends or my dad.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I guess seeing them in any capacity is better than missing the show entirely. Has anyone been to the RAH before? would it be possible to move to the front from the other areas, or are you stuck in place for the duration of the gig?

As for Bungle - I only have their first album so far, so I can't claim to be any sort of authority on them, but it's a bloody excellent record. I'd say any fan of Primus should enjoy it, as there's a similar mix of funk, rock and Zappa-esque madness.

[Hobes]

Thanks.

Come payday I'll try and get hold of it although sadly find-cd.co.uk doesn't have it listed for cheap. Google tells me £7.49 is the cheapest reliable (cd-wow) source.

There were standing tickets for sale for the Primus gig, but otherwise seating seems to be allocated.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It's cheaper than that on Amazon.

This here is the first thing I ever heard by them. Decidedly not safe for work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GHlkUAyfOo

[Noodle Lizard]

Primus owe everything to Bungle, if you ask me.  A lot of bands do, as it happens, whether or not they like to admit it (I'm looking at you Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Deftones).

Their third/final album "California" is probably the most easy-going, with their second record "Disco Volante" being the hardest.  The self-titled debut would probably be quite tricky for the uninitiated, but that's the most Primus-y.  They're three VERY different albums, but equally brilliant.

[Noodle Lizard]

It's cheaper than that on Amazon.

This here is the first thing I ever heard by them. Decidedly not safe for work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GHlkUAyfOo

Fantastic song.  That bassline's so damn groovy.  And the lyrics are nothing short of hilarious - especially in the breakdown.

[samadriel]

I prefer the latter FNM albums, when Mike Patton started to dial down that unfortunate yowling.  I rate "King for a Day, Fool For a Lifetime" as their best, "Angel Dust" next, then maybe "Album of the Year" or "The Real Thing".  Their singles typically aren't their best songs; 'Stripsearch' and 'The Gentle Art of Making Enemies' are pretty good though.

Mike Patton isn't the only one to watch from that family tree; Trey Spruance (Mr Bungle and briefly FNM; apparently he can't work with Patton anymore as they're both such control freaks) has put out some great albums under the name Secret Chiefs 3, and from there you might be interested in checking out Eyvind Kang's work (his album "Virginal Coordinates" has Patton on vocals, come to think of it).  Very rewarding.

[Noodle Lizard]

Mike Patton isn't the only one to watch from that family tree; Trey Spruance (Mr Bungle and briefly FNM; apparently he can't work with Patton anymore as they're both such control freaks) has put out some great albums under the name Secret Chiefs 3, and from there you might be interested in checking out Eyvind Kang's work (his album "Virginal Coordinates" has Patton on vocals, come to think of it).  Very rewarding.

Secret Chiefs 3 are pretty much the next step on from California-era Bungle sans vocals.  Not bad at all, although I can never really "get into" instrumental music aside from the occasional listen - I need vocals!

I'm still holding out for that Bungle re-union.  Faith No More re-united after all, despite leaving things on quite bitter terms, whereas one of the main causes of Bungle's demise was financial (Anthony Kiedis is partly to blame for that, by the way).  I don't necessarily want Bungle to make more music (although that would be appreciated), I'd just kill to see them live.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Primus owe everything to Bungle, if you ask me.

Again, I'm no expert, but both bands emerged around the same time didn't they? It's Rush and Frank Zappa that Primus are indebted to, shirley?

[Noodle Lizard]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Primus were far more straightforward "funk/rock fusion" at the beginning, then went a bit wilder.  Remember, even before Bungle's major label debut, they were pretty well known around California (which is how Patton got selected for Faith No More) and had several demo tapes out.  Maybe saying "owe everything" is a bit much, but I can't help but think they're very much indebted to them - and Melvins too, while we're at it.

[alan nagsworth]

Primus.

They're not quite Mr Bungle are they?

How much of a fawning fanboy are you, really? Primus don't owe shit to Mr. Bungle; they are two entirely separate bands and their sounds are so dissimilar it pains me to even hear you prattle on about Patton in such a way. Granted he is a behemoth in terms of prolific and commercially-available experimentation but that doesn't mean that everyone bows down to him as their key influence. Primus have a slap-bass funk-metal sound. Mr. Bungle had a similar approach on their first album. Mr. Bungle are more widely known in the hip avant-garde circles for their complex musicianship therefore PRIMUS OWES BUNGLE FOR THEIR SUCCESS. Pull the other one. Primus are a singular entity that float in Claypool's own bizarre universe that, if anything, owes a lot more to the influence from The Residents. But The Residents aren't as cool as Mr. Bungle are they so no one really bothers to acknowledge that.



Anyway, if anyone has the chance to attend either of these gigs next year, I'd say get in there while you can. It was great to see them this year and they put on a fantastic show. However, it will probably be a hell of a lot more of their new material this time around as the new album comes out pretty soon. They only played two or three new tracks when I saw them, and the rest f the show was a bonkers hit parade culminating in an encore that was a big 20-minute seamless medley of sections of all the best stuff they didn't include in the main setlist. Baffling and wonderful. Claypool is a lovely guy, made the brown lovers feel very welcome to the show indeed.

[Noodle Lizard]

Did I even mention Patton?  If anything, I'd say Trey Spruance is the key member of Bungle in terms of their sound (except maybe California, which appeared to be equally split between him and Patton).  It's all very well you calling me a fawning fanboy but ...

I still maintain that Primus wouldn't have panned out the way they did if it weren't for Bungle's first album, but (as I already said) I shouldn't have used the phrase "owe everything", and I don't think they ripped them off either, but the similarities are there and as far as late 80s/early 90s Californian experimental genre-spanning rock music goes, I think Bungle are the superior and more innovative band.  Although I'm pretty sure Primus are the better known (and more successful) band, so I'm not sure why you're making it sound as if Bungle unfairly gets all the recognition.

As for The Residents, I thought it was quite clear that they influenced both bands.  See also Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, John Zorn etc.

[Petey Pate]

Primus are nowhere need as good as Mr. Bungle.  I like some of their songs, but they're pretty hit and miss overall.  Some of their songs are just outright terrible and tediously repetitive, like this one:

Primus - Is It Luck?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I still maintain that Primus wouldn't have panned out the way they did if it weren't for Bungle's first album, but (as I already said) I shouldn't have used the phrase "owe everything", and I don't think they ripped them off either, but the similarities are there and as far as late 80s/early 90s Californian experimental genre-spanning rock music goes, I think Bungle are the superior and more innovative band.  Although I'm pretty sure Primus are the better known (and more successful) band, so I'm not sure why you're making it sound as if Bungle unfairly gets all the recognition.

Hurm. It's hard for me to speculate beyond the evidence of the records themselves, but I'd say Primus' sound was already evident on John the Fisherman (released in 1989) and pretty much set by the time of Sailing the Seas of Cheese (the earliest of their albums that I own), which came out some months before Mr Bungle's debut. I expect the similarities between them were more a case of convergent evolution.

I'd certainly agree that Mr Bungle is a better record than any of the Primus albums I've heard, which do tend to veer between brilliant and grating. However I can't really see what, if any, influence Bungle may have had on Claypool and co's career path. If anything, isn't it more likely to be the opposite - with Bungle having benefited from Primus making commercial inroads?

[Noodle Lizard]

Most of the songs on Bungle's debut had been written by 1988 or so, some as early as '86, and appeared on several demo tapes which got passed around a lot in the California music scene.  They were already pretty successful within that scene long before Patton joined Faith No More/Bungle got signed, and they probably knew Primus personally (I know Bungle and Melvins opened for Primus once they got big).

Of course with the facts we have it's hard to say for definite - and there certainly doesn't seem to be any animosity between the two (unlike Bungle/FNM and RHCP, for instance).  I think your idea of convergent evolution is almost certainly true, but I do think Primus picked up on things from Bungle as well.  For instance, if you listen to the demo version of Tommy The Cat from 1988 (I think), and then listen to the one which appeared on the album, you could be forgiven for thinking that, in the time between the two recordings, they may well have heard something like Squeeze Me Macaroni off Bungle's OU818 demo.

Not that it matters really, I've already taken back my "owe everything" statement, so I'm not trying to make a case.  But I do think Bungle are better.

[Glebe]

Have they ever played Ireland? Was a big fan during the Seas of Cheese era.

Surely one the wackiest music videos ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYDfwUJzYQg&ob=av3e

[sutin]

Have they ever played Ireland? Was a big fan during the Seas of Cheese era.

Surely one the wackiest music videos ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYDfwUJzYQg&ob=av3e

Reply 9 years later!

My mate saw Primus at a music festival in Ireland circa Seas Of Cheese, so they played there at least once.

[Glebe]

Reply 9 years later!

My mate saw Primus at a music festival in Ireland circa Seas Of Cheese, so they played there at least once.

Crikey! I would have loved to have been there.

[clingfilm portent]

Nice one for the bump. I watched all the Primus videos from the golden era, and I liked all of them. Then I listened to Mr Bungle, on the strength of the posts in the thread, and it's pretty good. Both well outside my usual music diet so I've had a nice pallette cleanse this morning. This is a good forum at times. Cheers.

[PlanktonSideburns]

I recon primus draw much more from xtc and 80s king crimson than bungle

[sutin]

I see no real similarities between Bungle and Primus, and i've been a big fan of both for at least 20 years. Bungle (first album) are more comparable to Cardiacs and Oingo Boingo. Primus are like a cartoon version of '70s prog crossed with The Residents with more conscise songs (in their '90s heyday).