Primus to Play Rush Album on “A Tribute to Kings” Tour
Les Claypool and Primus will be paying tribute to Rush this spring and summer with an extensive tour called “A Tribute to Kings.” The trek will feature the trio performing Rush’s 1977 album A Farewell To Kings in its entirety at each show in addition to an all-Primus set.
Claypool told Rolling Stone that they’ve been thinking of doing a full album for a while and had talked about performing Hemispheres since it was the bassist’s first concert. However, they decided to opt for Farewell for logistical reasons.
“[Hemispheres] has always had a very big place in my heart and head. But as we got to thinking about the record and how to tackle it — because it’s not going to be an easy feat, on many levels,” he explained. “A) I gotta try to sing Geddy Lee shit [laughs]. His older stuff is up in the stratosphere. I was texting with Geddy and saying, ‘Man, is any of this falsetto, or…?’ And he was like, ‘Nope, that’s my full voice.’ So I might need some help from the audience on some of this stuff. I gotta play the keyboard parts. But we settled on Kings, because A) it was the first Rush record I ever heard and B) it contains ‘Cygnus X-1,’ which has always been my favorite Rush tune. It seems to be a good one for us to tackle; 2112 seemed a little obvious.”
Primus spent a lot of time on the road with Rush back in the day and befriended each member. The idea for the tour came last summer and was supposed to happen in the fall, but they opted to tour with Slayer instead. Now with Neil Peart’s passing, the performances will be more poignant, but Claypool says he wants to honor the music and band as a whole. “We’re trying to be very sensitive about doing the tour and not having it be, ‘Hey, all about Neil,’” he says. “It’s about admiration for these amazing musicians and friends.”
Support for the tour will be coming from Wolfmother, The Sword, and Battles on select dates.
Primus “A Tribute to Kings” Tour Dates:
| Date | Location | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| May 26 | Irving, TX | The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory *^ |
| May 27 | Houston, TX | Revention Music Center *^ |
| May 29 | Austin, TX | ACL Live at the Moody Theater *^ |
| May 30 | New Orleans, LA | Saenger Theater *^ |
| Jun 1 | Asheville, NC | ExploreAsheville.com Arena *^ |
| Jun 3 | Orlando, FL | Hard Rock Live Orlando *^ |
| Jun 5 | Atlanta, GA | Coca-Cola Roxy *^ |
| Jun 6 | Charlotte, NC | Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre *^ |
| Jun 7 | Raleigh, NC | Red Hat Amphitheater *^ |
| Jun 9 | Cincinnati, OH | PNC Pavilion *^ |
| Jun 10 | Columbus, OH | Express Live! – Outdoor *^ |
| Jun 12 | Manchester, TN | Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival |
| Jun 15 | Richmond, VA | Virginia Credit Union LIVE! *^ |
| Jun 16 | Baltimore, MD | MECU Pavilion *^ |
| Jun 17 | New York, NY | Beacon Theatre *^ |
| Jun 19 | Philadelphia, PA | The Met Philadelphia *^ |
| Jun 20 | Asbury Park, NJ | The Stone Pony Summer Stage *^ |
| Jun 21 | Essex Junction, VT | Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Exposition *^ |
| Jun 23 | Boston, MA | Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion *^ |
| Jun 24 | Wallingford, CT | Toyota Oakdale Theatre *^ |
| Jun 26 | Sterling Heights, MI | Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill *^ |
| Jun 27 | Cleveland, OH | Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica *^ |
| Jun 28 | Pittsburgh, PA | Stage AE – Outdoor *^ |
| Jun 30 | Toronto, ON | RBC Echo Beach *^ |
| Jul 2 | Lafayette, NY | Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards * |
| Jul 3 | Westbrook ME | Main Savings Pavilion at Rock Row |
| Jul 6 | Indianapolis, IN | The Amphitheater at White River State Park *+ |
| Jul 7 | Milwaukee, WI | BMO Harris Pavilion *+ |
| Jul 8 | Minneapolis, MN | The Armory *+ |
| Jul 10 | Chicago, IL | The Chicago Theatre *+ |
| Jul 11 | St Louis, MO | Saint Louis Music Park *+ |
| Jul 12 | Kansas City, MO | CrossroadsKC *+ |
| Jul 14 | Denver, CO | The Mission Ballroom *+ |
| Jul 15 | Salt Lake City, UT | The Complex *+ |
| Jul 17 | Berkeley, CA | Greek Theater *+ |
| Jul 18 | Los Angeles, CA | Greek Theatre *+ |
| Jul 19 | Las Vegas, NV | Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort *+ |
| Jul 21 | Boise, ID | Outlaw Field at Idaho Botanical Garden *+ |
| Jul 23 | Bonner, MT | KettleHouse Amphitheater *+ |
| Jul 24 | Redmond, WA | Marymoor Park *+ |
| Jul 25 | Troutdale, OR | Edgefield *+ |
| Jul 28 | Spokane, WA | Riverfront Park Amphitheater *+ |
| Jul 29 | Bend, OR | Les Schwab Amphitheater *+ |
| Jul 31 | Paso Robles, CA | Vina Robles Amphitheatre *+ |
| Aug 1 | San Diego, CA | Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU *+ |
| Aug 2 | Phoenix, AZ | Arizona Federal Theatre *+ |
* w/ Wolfmother
^ w/ The Sword
+ w/ Battles
