It’s been quite the past few months for legendary Bay Area trio Primus. In between legs of the “Sessanta” tour, the never-ending celebration of Maynard James Keenan’s 60^th birthday with A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, long-time drummer, Tim “Herb” Alexander, left the band for the third time last October, and no, he won’t be comin’ back for the holidays. After an open audition process that received over 6,200 submissions, Shreveport, Louisiana-based John Hoffman was announced as the newest drummer for Primus in February. The band released an outstanding 12 episode YouTube series, “The Primus Interstellar Drum Derby,” documenting in person jams with several of the finalists, which can be checked out here. Hoffman made his live debut at Tool’s Live in the Sand festival in the Dominican Republic on March 8^th, sharing drum duties with another lesser-known drummer named Danny Carey. On March 25^th, Primus announced their “Onward & Upward” tour that would run from July 5^th through August 8^th, coming hot on the heels of the final leg of “Sessanta V2.0” that would wrap up in June.

The southbound trio brought their “Onward & Upward” tour over the falls and down to Nashville on Sunday night, landing at The Pinnacle, one of the newer and nicer venues in town. Opening for the trek is indie rocker, Ty Segall and his band, who blistered through a rockin’ set of nine songs, including “Possession,” “Finger,” and closing with “Love Fuzz,” priming the crowd for the main attraction.

Coming out to their customary intro of Danny Elfman’s “Clown Dream,” Les, Ler and newly enthroned Primus drummer John “Hoffer, Hoffington, Hoffennpfeffer Incorporated” Hoffman took their spots on stage, and with the press of a wah pedal launched straight into “Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers.” Les just recently shared on his Instagram account that “Hoffer has been killin’ it. His enthusiasm is palpable. Definitely blown some fresh air into these Ol’ PRIMUS sails and has been knocking barnacles off the hull,” and as they transitioned into “Dirty Drowning Man,” that stiff breeze was palpable in the building. Tempos as crisp as an ice-cold pork soda. As chants of “Primus sucks!” finally start to pick up, the tour debut of “HOINFODAMAN” starts up next while a montage of the music video plays on the screen behind them.

“NAAAAAASHVUL!” Les yells out to the crowd. “The hell’s going on around here anyway? I hear this is a music town … I hear you know a little somethin’ about music around heya. Well, we’re sorry to subject you to Primus this evening. You’re just gonna have to deal with it … just deal with it. Ah … things have happened, there’s a new guy who’s been following us around. He thinks he’s pretty fancy. He thinks he’s a hot shooter. His name’s John Hoffington von Hofferstein and he can waggle his sticks like nobody’s business!” After some back and forth with Ler, “Eh, maybe let’s go … alright, you want me to shut up, is that what you’re saying? Alright … I’m just the bass player after all.”

“Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread” and “Over the Falls” were up next, during the latter of which Les goes on to officially dub guitarist Larry LaLonde as the “godfather of death metal.” At 15 years old, Ler and his former band Possessed coined the term “death metal.” “So, Ler,” Les asks, “are you still in league with Beelzebub?” “Only one way to find out,” Ler retorts, as he rips into a solo to close out “Over the Falls” before moving into the twangy cover of Jerry Reed’s “Amos Moses,” a song I’m sure that has been played around these parts a time or two.

Up next on the docket were “Jilly’s on Smack,” “Restin’ Bones,” “Bob’s Party Time Lounge,” and “Shake Hands With Beef.” By now the energy in the crowd was picking up, with push pits breaking out during “Welcome to This World” and increasing in intensity when the bass thump of “My Name is Mud” started to rumble.

As the boys start winding down, they wrapped up their set with “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver,” “Over the Electric Grapevine”, and encoring with “Southbound Pachyderm”. Sure, there were some favorites that were missing; “Tommy the Cat,” “Too Many Puppies,” “John the Fisherman” just to name a few, but with a catalog that spans nearly four decades, tonight’s setlist surely satisfied the most hardcore of fans. Jellikit? I liked it.

In 1992, long before any tune imaginable was tucked away in the palm of our hands, the first song I ever called in and requested on my local college radio station was “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver.” Thirty-three years later, when Les started finger tapping that intro and marching around the stage, I instantly reverted to that rebellious teenage skatepunk who found a band … a feeling … hell, a genre the masses hadn’t yet. That’s the magic of music. That’s the power of Primus. 

Primus’ “Onward & Upward” tour continues tonight at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, MI and runs through August 8th ending with two shows at Channel 24 in Sacramento, CA. Hopefully, new tunes with Hoffman are in the Primus pipeline, and if their latest single, “Little Lord Fentanyl,” is any indicator of their collective musical direction, that dog will hunt!

They’re Primus … and they still suck!