I started off by only catching the tail end of Tim Fite. The last two songs were musically off, and the two man band was no fun to look at. I did happen to speak with two people who both recently caught Tim at SXSW and were anxious to see him open for Les Claypool. Both laid claim to a really great comedic show. Too bad I didn't do my usual homework and I didn't get to the concert sooner.
Les Claypool faithfully gave an inspirational two hour performance with expert slap 'n tap bass lines. He's definitely perfected his distinct playing style on unique eye-catching basses, like the bassjo, whamola, and the rainbow bass. The harmony was jazz, jam band, and of course, Primus influenced. It was an awesome fusion undoubtedly stemming from Les' Oysterhead days.
Besides his definitive bass playing style and instruments, Claypool also captivates by wearing masks. Who doesn't love the mysterious quality of a mask? Ironically, it allures such an intimate feeling of closeness. The first of four was a cheap masquerade half-mask with an extra long nose. There was also a pig, monkey, and a flat-top which looked like a mullet with his long hair. Les eventually nailed the fast tempo encore on the whamola à la maskless.
Accompanying Leslie were Skerik on the sax, Mike Dillon on xylophones, and Paulo Baldi on drums accented with two giant tiger heads. Skerik even busted out a recorder for a bit. The three wore matching white long sleeved, high-necked shirts with some sort of small red pattern (circles or diamonds perhaps?), while Les wore all black. His turn-of-the-century style was adorned with a felt hat, 6 button pinstriped vest, long sleeved shirt adorned with a fancy piped 6 button cuff, and belted slacks. Claypool even mentioned that he had to buy new "duds" that afternoon because a dry cleaner in Dallas left his clothes dashed with itching powder. I youtubed the clips of the show last night at the House of Blues and sure enough, he was wearing a similar dark colored costume while the other three wore leaf patterned long sleeved shirts.
I wondered why there was an older generation of concert goers there; Primus has only been noticed for barely over a decade (even though they've been around since the mid-eighties). It's because Claypool is greatly influenced by old-schoolers like Larry Graham and jazz musician, Carl Thompson. Les blurs the lines and fuses genres of rock, jazz, and hippie music to name a few. He's gaining popularity in several musical circles and constantly maintains side projects. Les Claypool is a virtuoso outside his zone and has worked with the likes of Gov't Mule, Trey Anastasio, and Tom Waits. Clever? Absolutely.
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