Review: Primus, Puddles Pity Party and Coheed and Cambria uniquely rock Stage AE
PITTSBURGH ― It was all about that bass Thursday at a sold-out Stage AE, with Les Claypool and his truly alternative rock band Primus eclectically rocking 5,500 fans under the clouds.
Claypool's one-of-a-kind bass guitar thumps sounded thunderous, twangy, trippy, funky and menacing ? and that was just on the opening song, "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers," for which he played both super-fast and with stomping, hypnotic intensity.
Near the end of "My Friend Fats," Claypool cajoled from his bass a sound similar to the vinyl scratching of an old-school rap DJ.
It was hard to shift focus from Claypool's compelling riffage, though bandmates Larry LaLonde (guitars) and Tim Alexander (drums) kept pace with that percussive bass, forging a sound that flitted from funk-metal to prog-rock, leaving plenty of space for hooks, a built-in advantage for trios.
Amid those hooks, Claypool's quirky singing voice rang out clearly. When bantering, his voice sounded like a mix between a clever carny and rural UFO eyewitness.
"I could be wrong, but I think this is the Iron City," Claypool deadpanned to LaLonde while motioning toward the huge Iron City (beer) billboard across the river atop Mount Washington quite visible from the Stage AE stage. "The Iron City," he continued. "That means there are no wrinkles on anybody's clothing around here."
As for his clothing, Claypool opted for a flannel ballcap and a green jacket, or at least it looked green in the shrouded dark stage lighting.
The greasy grooved "Frizzle Fry" was typical of a song where fans danced with their feet stationary, bobbing their heads and shoulders staunchly to the beat.
A brain-melting cover of Rush's "Cygnus X-1," featured vocal help from Claudio Sanchez, of main support act Coheed and Cambria, who got into the spirit wearing a Syrinx hooded cloak.
Primus played almost an hour before getting to alt-rock radio hits "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" then a few songs later "My Name is Mud" rife with Claypool's hearty bass thumb slaps, ground rattling distortion effects and LaLonde's buzzsaw guitar. A good number of fans in the front shouted along with the final five words in the line "I kissed him upside the cranium with that aluminum baseball bat."
Straight up to the encore, there was intermittent crowd surfing. Everyone looked to be having a fun time basking in Primus' off-kilter glory.
Support act Coheed and Cambria was well-received, delivering a 75-minute set of progressive metal that had many spectators mouthing along to lyrics, too.
Coheed and Cambria's heavy guitars didn't overpower the band's groove-oriented melodicism.
Vocalist-guitarist Sanchez did a few fun hair flips, tossing around his mighty mane. Bandmates said how stoked they were to have thrown out the ceremonial first pitch earlier that afternoon at the Pittsburgh Pirates game at PNC Park.
Coheed and Cambria played a new song "Blindside Sunny" that Sanchez explained was meant to be danceable. Bodies obliged.
"The Liars Club" from 2022 brought an engrossing punk-rock edge.
The show started memorably and enjoyably with Puddles Pity Party, a 6-foot-8 singer whose golden voice and head-to-toe clown costume equally commanded attention.
Puddles Pity Party stayed serious-faced, even when "strumming" an inflatable-looking, fake twin-neck guitar, giving a lounge singer-ish moxie to mashups like Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" melded with "Let It Go" from the film "Frozen," and the melody of The Who's "Pinball Wizard" with the lyrics replaced by Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."
The alter ego of Philadelphia-born musician Michael Geier, Puddles brought smiles with his "Stairway to Heaven" that featured the lyrics from the "Gilligan's Island" theme. He ended robustly with Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" concluding with the drum cadence from Metallica's "One."
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This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Review: Primus, Puddles and Coheed & Cambria uniquely rock Pittsburgh
