A diverse crowd gathered near Portland, OR on Friday for a concert at McMenamins Edgefield featuring Primus and Coheed and Cambria.
When it was announced back in February, the co-headlining tour took some by surprise, seeing as Coheed’s heavily conceptual prog rock falls outside Primus’ psychedelic music festival milieu, though upon reflection, the pairing makes perfect sense. Primus has always had a strong footing in both the heavy metal world and jam band scene thanks to Les Claypool‘s idiosyncratic style and eclectic taste. The band recently toured with A Perfect Circle and Puscifer—both fronted by Tool singer Maynard James Keenan—and its heavy metal street credit may have actually peaked around the time that Coheed blew up on a national level with help from games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, which also featured tracks from Primus.
Friday’s audience was made up mostly of metal heads, with far more fans dressed in all black than in tie-dye. That was especially true at the start of the night, during an opening set by Guerilla Toss. The crowd filled in a bit by the time Coheed and Cambria took the stage, but a big space remained separating the GA pit from the lawn. The band thanked those in front of the stage for their energy, remarking how strange it was to be playing heavy music in the sunshine for a mostly seated audience.
Despite the incongruence, Coheed delivered a powerful, arena-worthy performance that had the diehards in the crowd pumping their fists and singing along to songs like “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood & Burial)”, “A Favor House Atlantic”, and “Welcome Home” with blissful nostalgia. The band also dipped into its more recent material, including 2018’s Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures and 2022’s Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind, which continued to The Amory Wars storyline that imbued the band’s earlier work with a sense of fantasy and narrative depth.
The venue continued to fill up with more tie-dye until Claypool, Larry “Ler” LaLonde, and Tim “Herb” Alexander took the stage. Almost immediately, a whirlpool opened up in the pit as ecstatic fans marched around in a “circle of death” mosh pit. Entering any mosh pit carries a risk of physical danger, but this one was more joyous than aggressive. It lasted for most of Primus’ set, resulting in a cloud of dust that stayed suspended in front of the band and rendered fog machines unnecessary.
Like Coheed, Primus made sure the band’s classic albums were represented, including 1990’s Frizzle Fry (“The Toys Go Winding Down”, “Pudding Time”, “Groundhog’s Day”, “Harold of the Rocks”), 1993’s Pork Soda (“Welcome to This World”, “Hamburger Train”, “My Name Is Mud”), and 1995’s Tales from the Punchbowl (“Professor Nutbutter’s House of Treats”, “Southbound Pachyderm”), as well as a relatively newer tune from 2017’s The Desaturating Seven (“The Seven”). The set included a few tour debuts and ended on a high note with a “My Name Is Mud” closer followed by a “Southbound Pachyderm” encore.
Click below to view fan-shot videos and a gallery of photos from Primus and Coheed and Cambria at McMenamins Edgefield. The tour continues with shows around the Midwest and East Coast. For a full list of upcoming dates, visit Primus or Coheed‘s website.
Coheed And Cambria – “Welcome Home” – 7/19/24
[Video: Max Steele]
Primus – “The Seven” – 7/19/24
[Video: Nigel Tightpants]
Setlist: Primus | McMenamins Edgefield | Troutdale, OR | 7/19/24 | Photos: James Sissler
Set: The Toys Go Winding Down > Pudding Time (tour debut), The Seven (tour debut), Groundhog’s Day (w/ Polka Dot Rose tease), My Friend Fats, Harold of the Rocks, Over the Falls, Lee Van Cleef, Professor Nutbutter’s House of Treats (tour debut), Hamburger Train (tour debut), Welcome to This World > My Name Is Mud
Encore: Southbound Pachyderm (w/ Is It Luck? fake out)
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