A Very Wonka Afternoon With Primus, In Concert And In Costume
For more than 25 years, Primus has honed its distinct weirdo sensibility and earned fans with its funny lyrics and high-octane instrumental prowess. At the center of the group is Les Claypool, the band's slap-happy bassist and spirit animal, whose absurdist musical whims and avant prog rock experiments have led the band from underground success to cult popularity.
Now, with their latest album, Primus' original members -- Claypool, Larry LaLonde, and Tim “Herb” Alexander -- have deployed their inventive and darkly comedic skills to re-imagine the score to the classic 1971 Mel Stuart-directed, Gene Wilder-starring film Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Claypool describes the new tunes as sounding like “one of the early Peter Gabriel records meets Dark Side Of The Moon meets the Residents.”
So just in time for Halloween, Soundcheck and Primus threw an intimate Wonka-inspired concert and costume party at WNYC's Greene Space, performing material from the new Wonka record -- and a few surprises. Plus, the band judges the audience's best costumes. It was a truly wild afternoon full of musical oddities and candy-fueled fun.
