Primus >> What a trip this tour is! Roald Dahl would be proud! The Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble tour played The Tabernacle in Atlanta this past Saturday night and it was an epic show.
The Tabernacle was once a church, then it became House of Blues, and now it is a concert venue and bar. It has three levels, having balcony seats that were all filled and a standing room only floor below and above. This was the perfect setting for this entertaining show. If you have never seen the Gene Wilder movie version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory watch it before you see Primus. You will figure out why after seeing this tour. It is amazing what an imagination the members of Primus have. I have never seen a xylophone solo at a rock concert before, and this one had three!!!
Standing room only at the sold out show and I was there to witness 2 cello solos and 3 xylophone solos all at one concert. The crowd responded enthusiastically to Primus throughout the set. Primus had broken the show into 2 different sets and each set satisfied the crowd. The first set performed was purely older Primus material. The stage reflected the basic of a talented band with their instruments to entertain the audience. Good lighting of blue to white was used very well and the sound was great as well. They’re one of those bands who everyone has heard or knows of at least one song; but no one ever really remembers until they see them play live. Primus has been described as metal, rock with electronic, hard core rock ‘n’ roll, and a stylish funk rock, no matter what you may consider them it is all rock ‘n’ roll. This is why they are a truly one of a kind band.
The second set that Primus performed was to support their latest album Primus & The Chocolate Factory With The Fungi Ensemble, the music on the album is Primus doing music from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. They have definitely funked the music up and it now is what, in my opinion, is what Roald Dahl had in his mind when writing the book Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. There was a 40-minute wait time in between the sets, since this was a completely different set than their first. More props, a background screen for projections, and costume change along with different instruments added to the stage. The audience at the sold out show was patient throughout this long wait. It was actually the best time to visit the merchandise booth in one of the rooms off the second level. Once the curtains opened a roar from the energized crowd came and the madness began and it was wonderfully weird.
Each member of the band entered the stage in their character and stayed in the character while performing with their instruments. It was more like being in a theater watching a musical or play than it was a rock concert. The talent of each member with their instrument was shown all throughout the set. Of course there was a drum solo and a guitar solo, but Primus included cello solos and xylophone solos as well! This was a magical sight to see someone in a rock band to pound out a fantastic xylophone solo three different times in three different songs. Then there were the cello solos in two different songs and it was fitting to have it in the show.
On each side of the stage there were large inflatable mushrooms [another reason setting of the stage took so long] along with smaller light mushrooms. No candy factory stage would be complete without lollipops and candy wrappers covered a couple of the front equipment on stage. This was a stage setting to tell the story on. I enjoyed the book and the movie so my excitement level was at an all-time high once the curtain opened. There were multi-colored Christmas lights surrounding the raised drum platform. There was a clear tarp over the windows behind the stage on each side of the graphic screen that was up and it made the widows behind in stained glass a very eerie darker feel to them. Blue-ish and purplish colored spotlights were used on these clear tarps and around other parts of the stage set as well. I found this to be an exceptional way to use lighting. The graphic screen throughout this set performance had images of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory movie. It worked very well the parts of it used were mainly the music and singing parts in the movie. I just wonder how much the band spent in getting the rights to use the movie. I loved the use of it.
Primus vocalist Les Claypool entered the stage as Willy Wonka and the crowd got loud! The Willy Wonka character was a mish-mash of Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp befitting since both actors portrayed the character in films. To the audience in attendance, we all knew this was a special performance and one that will be listed as one of the best we all have ever seen. The music began and it was rockin! Oompa Loompas of course were part of the show. I never really thought that Oompa loompas were creepy or frightening until these two Oompa Loompas approached the middle of the stage. With overly large heads wearing white overalls and green and black striped sweaters, I became afraid of them. In fact, I think that American Horror Story should do a season on them alone. I was scared of them.
In the movie version which was on the graphic screen, there is a magical boat ride, it is actually one of the iconic scenes of the movie and Primus was in all glory while performing ‘Pure Imagination’ with this famous scene being shown behind them. Multi-colored lights were used effectively through this performance. This show was psychedelic and fun! I hope to see more performances like this from other talented bands. In two words: Pure Imagination!
Tiffini
