Claypool at it again

I posted this in the Belew Harrison thread earlier as they will be with them also. Looks like Lennon on Guitar and Animals the album set

Sounds like big fun. I'll probably catch the show in San Luis Obispo at this place, which looks frog-friendly:

wow a show at the madonna, now that's a trip

Have always wanted to see FFB - I get a birthday show in Napa. (hmmm, opening night of Dead&Co or FFB, LOL... who plays the faster tempo?) .... and they are playing one of the McMenamin's lodges in Portland metro area on the Sunday of Oregon Country Fair weekend, July 9. 

Meaty tour of a range of decent, interesting and good venues with some excellent openers (even by Les standards which is usually fairly good to begin with) including fishbone, Belew & Harrison, and moon duo.

last primus tour and those bastard improv nye shows were sick.

claypool's been making some of the better and more interesting music of his career, seems to b in a very good place rn

I'd follow this stupid shit if I could

Opted out, GA only here and vip is a nothing burger. I'll stick with just the Belew Harrison only show 

Loved the Frog Brigade when they opened for Phil in 2000?

Madonna Inn!?  That should be weird!

What's the story on Madonna Inn?  Don't know it.

Tix go on sale today. Presale code: WHAMOLA

I picked up mine today. Love the Frog Brigade. Les, Enor and Skerrik getting weird for us again! 

Madonna Inn is a very famous themed room hotel thst's been in buisness for years. 

https://www.madonnainn.com/

And you live in Cali and never heard of the place!???

In for the Madonna show.

I've lived in CA for 25 years now, and never heard of The Madonna until yesterday. Seems like a good, weird environment for a show.

I grew up in Cali in the 60's, 70,s and 80.s and always knew the Madonna Inn. 

Ever heard of Anderson"s Split Pea Soup!?

Another Cali institution

>>>Im in
 

yes, but r u Madonna inn?

for those of u unfamiliar with the place, do u even central coast, bro?

> do u even central coast, bro?

Somewhat. I have some good friends who live in Santa Maria, so I've driven on the beach at Pismo, and seen a few shows at the Avila Blues Fest and SLO Brew Rock.

Stayed at the Madonna during our Hurrication from Katrina on our way to Vegoose 05

I remember nothing of the stay except for the odd room decor

>>>I see Madonna Inn I instantly think of Sean Penn

no, that's in Madonna.

>>>Loved the Frog Brigade when they opened for Phil in 2000?

2001, that was my first time seeing claypool and I've been a fairly insufferable fanboy of his ever since

The Frog Brigade opened for the Q at Red Rocks in 2001. They definitely caught my attention and held it for a while there.

https://archive.org/details/frog2001-07-06.fob.km140.16441

^Indeed. I saw that show too

I saw Rat Brigade does that get me a decoder ring?

I'm in for Santa Cruz, looking forward this! 

It's nice to see the old gym getting some shows.

My first indoor show was there (Montrose with Sammy opening for BOC) back when I was in HS.

Nice, hall.

I bet that was montrose as montrose.

Don't skip out on the fishbone opener if you've never seen'em

All this Madonna chatter has me confused. Are you people "in for Madonna" to see Les at some kitschy, SoCal tourist trap, or are you in for Madonna to see an aging diva prancing around in tacky, over-revealing costumes?

And I don't know much about Sean Lennon. Can he really play the guitar, or is he another middling player with his father's name & looks?

On paper this lineup doesn't get me too fired up, and this deal that Les has been into for a while now of his bands covering other bands full albums is a bit tired. It's cool that Les does different projects and I've seen most over the years (except his group/s with Lennon), but ultimately I have always liked Les way better in Primus than any other setting.

That being said, I may end up at the Santa Cruz show. As Googly said, there's something about that old hall that works. It's a totally generic, unremarkable place, but over the 45 years I've been seeing shows there an inordinate number of them have been memorably great, including the first time I saw Jerry Garcia.

If he's going to cover an album I do like Animals a lot, maybe the group will be better than I'm expecting and I have soft spot for the venue, so I may end up going to the show.

And if ya'll are going to see Madonna, I hope you enjoy that.

> I don't know much about Sean Lennon. Can he really play the guitar, or is he another middling player with his father's name & looks?

You and Sean have worked closely together during the past few years and even covered some Pink Floyd tracks with Delerium. How has it been working on Animals with him?

Shiner [Sean Lennon] doesn’t really think of himself as a strong guitar player. And I’m like, “Dude, you have no idea.” The guy can really play, and I’m always that guy who nudges him. We were out here working on some stuff and I just thought that he’d be perfect for this. He jumped at the chance, and he was very excited to do it. I figured, “He must be intimidated about the Animals stuff,” and he was like, “I got that—it’s your stuff that I’m worried about.” I was laughing about that because I played a lot of the guitar parts on my records, and I’m not a guitar player. I just make these odd sounds, but he’s fired up about the whole thing.

https://relix.com/news/detail/les-claypool-talks-regrouping-the-frog-bri...

>>>montrose as montrose.

yep, around '79 I think?

>>>Don't skip out on the fishbone opener if you've never seen'em

oh I plan to... I remember hearing about when they played the SC Civic back in the 80's and the show got stopped midway 'cause somebody got their leg broken in the pit.

Hey Now, Lance - FYI, Madonna just announced a big 2023-2024 Tour so you too can be IN @ Madonna! ;)

https://www.madonna.com/tour

>>>All this Madonna chatter has me confused. Are you people "in for Madonna" to see Les at some kitschy, SoCal tourist trap, or are you in for Madonna to see an aging diva prancing around in tacky, over-revealing costumes?

And I don't know much about Sean Lennon. Can he really play the guitar, or is he another middling player with his father's name & looks?

On paper this lineup doesn't get me too fired up, and this deal that Les has been into for a while now of his bands covering other bands full albums is a bit tired. It's cool that Les does different projects and I've seen most over the years (except his group/s with Lennon), but ultimately I have always liked Les way better in Primus than any other setting.<<<

Wow, lance is up and throwing all kinds of shade.

I guess you've experienced both madonnas and weren't impressed by either?

that's fine, I respect your judgment, I've never seen the pop star though true blue and like a prayer r classic pop albums and I've never stayed at the inn though I have been curious about it the many times I drove by visiting my mom when she lived in arroyo grande. 

If they had any of their kitschy rooms available that weekend my wife and I would have probably booked one as she's a bit of a claypool gal and a bit of a sucker for tourist traps.

as it is, unless I'm able to convince her to go the opening of the tour in Tahoe or I actually decide to go visit other family down south for the wiltern, I might just end up only seeing that Wheatland show.

moon duo will b opening up by that point and I'm fine with that as I'm a fan of all things ripley johnson.

btw, if any of y'all haven't  gotten into wooden shijps or rose city band yet, you're missing out.

Speaking of the openers this tour, I should have hyped budos band earlier in this thread, virtually any project affiliated with dap tone records is worthwhile and I think this w.I.t.c.h project is claiming to b an incarnation of legendary Zambian group, witch.

i'll have to look into that further but I will judge them with extreme prejudice as I'm known in the streets for having a fairly more zamrock than thou attitude.

As for Sean Lennon, dude seems competent enough, even more than most Nepo babies but as a much of a claypool fool as I am, the delirium is one of his few projects I've never seen.

I was just never that interested and the one time we were gonna check them out on a lark at a Santa Rosa cannabis cup my wife got called into work, but I'm sure I woulda dug it.

Seemed like they were really digging into those early Floyd and crimson covers and claypool usually always delivers and continues to grow regardless of the project, which has what's kept me coming back all these years unlike so many of the jambands I loved in my youth, even if he is, as he's long stated, just the guy from primus.

Still while we're on the subject, I'll b the first to say it, I miss Eenor.

I know he wasn't claypool "family" or the son of someone famous but that guy was eclectic as hell and helped give the brigade its identity.

truth b told, without him, lane, chimenti or even that unsettling Todd huth, this lineup is really just some overhyped Fancy Delirium Band  :(

There, lance, r u satisfied now?

we were all just trying trying to have a retarded flying frog Madonna jamboree in here and u just had to slap us with a cold dose of reality, didn't u?

well, I still ain't mad at ya, just watch yourself in that Santa Cruz fishbone pit.

hall knows I'm talking about

Sean Lennon is a pretty darn good guitar player, his solo and ghost of Sabre tooth tiger  work is mostly excellent and the Delirium is a great line up to check out too. 

Can we all just agree any claypool project is better than oysterhead?

Frog Brigade was pretty cool when I saw them but that was over 20 years ago,

Different band back then.

Jeez, I wasn't really trying to "throw shade", I was just asking about Lennon because he's been around a long time but I don't ever recall hearing anything about him being a serious guitar player.

That, along with my dim recollections of past frog brigade projects being pretty hard jamming bands, the first with Buckethead, Bernie Worrell and Brain on drums, the second with that Eenor guy (he's the dude with the REALLY long dreds, right?) had me wondering if Lennon can really take it out there or if this is more a buds kind of thing. I don't really recall that drummer from Cake being much of a head-turner either, so I am just wondering what this band will really be.

And I have seen Madonna multiple times over the years. Sort of interesting as a spectacle and her fans are at least as entertaining as she is, so I would recommend it once just for the experience, especially if the ticket is cheap or free.

>>>Yep, around '79 I think?<<<

Montrose with Sammy definitely was when Montrose was Montrose, but that wouldn't have been '79. More like '74 or '75, as Sammy was on his own by '76, and he took all of that GREAT Montrose band with him, which is why Sammy's first couple of solo years were so great.

Poor RonnieM never recovered from that, which is a shame, because THAT dude really was a great guitar player.

The Madonna Inn gas station's bathrooms were the place to stop for a break. Every trip on 101. They were unusual - men's room had a urinal wall of rocks with water falling down the rocks, women's was clean, notoriously pink, weird and fun.

I had no idea they had shows there.

> notoriously pink

> we were all just trying trying to have a retarded flying frog Madonna jamboree in here

That's some old school gold right there.

>>>I had no idea they had shows there.

No one did, Judit, no one did but your description of the bathrooms sounds intriguing.

cake drummer goes the distance but ain't mind blowing, really though, is jay lane?

The years might melting into one for u a little bit there with your timeline, lance.

Frog brigade was actually pretty much claypool's first widely touring post primus solo project.

and before anyone whips out sausage or the holy mackerel, that was during primus hey day.

 CCFFFB toured actively with a few slightly different lineups 00-02 before primus reunited and the solo and super groups claypool was a part of after that were most of the weird things u speak of like bucket of Bernie brains, fancy fungi bastard affairs and the aforementioned less than the sum of its parts, oysterhead.

But it was never the frog brigade with yes, the dready cumbus playing, Bay Area Craigslist find, Eenor.

As much attention as the purple onion studio album and animals cover gets, I feel like the definitive release is that first disc they put out from the GAMH that's mostly a mix of sauasage and holy mackerel material as that was really the only non primus original songs claypool had at the time.

his very brief solo in running the gauntlet alone is worth the price of admission, imho.

Less than a year later he was ripping similar licks right in my impressionable face on the rail of the Berkeley Greek opening for the Q on the town's inaugural Phil Lesh day. 

 whoever mix and mastered that official live frog release earned their damn money too cause it sounds perfect for what it is.

venue probably didn't hurt either, I was only a lad at the time but did any of u elderly folk catch those?

I was at the first two of those Q shows at the Greek in 2001 too, E. Missed the Sunday show to spend time in the high country of Yosemite with my brother and his kids before we skedaddled out to Red Rocks, but not before running into a transitive nightfall of bunnies in the headlights all the way across Nevada on US 6.

"The town's inaugural Phil Lesh day" indeed.

Friday and Saturday were better, claypool kinda stole the show Sunday, well him and the spun naked guy who sat on some dude's stuff on the center throne in the pit, refused to move and had to b escorted out by security.

I guess Robert hunter was there in attendance and I remember seeing wavy gravy sitting in the stands reading the newspaper throughout Phil's set.

Ain't no Phil Lesh day like an inaugural Phil Lesh day

7-1-01
Greek Theatre 
Berkeley, CA
(total time: ~3:00) 

Set 1: Jam> Here Comes Sunshine> China Cat Sunflower> Forest Of Fennario (Peggy-O), Uncle John's Band> Celebration> Lovelight 
Set 2: Jam> Cumberland> Rock-n-Roll Blues, Sugaree, Viola Lee Blues> Low Spark of High Heeled Boys> Viola Lee Blues> Doin' That Rag> Bertha> Viola Lee Blues 
E: Night Of A Thousand Stars 

*July 1st Declared Phil Lesh Day In Berkeley
   
**Les Claypool's Frog Brigade opened:

http://toasterland.com/setlists/jplayer/index.php?name=2001-07-01&band=1...

>>>like bucket of Bernie brains<<<

Ah yes, that's right. That group WASN'T Flying Frog Brigade. One side project or another does tend to blend together in my brain over the many years.

Still, I think my questions about the overall quality of this band, as apposed to just getting excited about the NAME is fair enough. I'm just asking questions.

I also stand by my contention that of all the many various projects Les has been a part of over the years, for me the only one that fully embraces all of who he really is and maximizes who he is as a player/performer is Primus. Primus IS Les Claypool, all the other groups are a not complete, not exactly right version of Les Claypool.

YMMV.

>>>really though, is jay lane<<<

Good god, NO!

Jay Lane is BLAND. Jay Lane is DULL. Jay Lane is tepid tippy-tap. Jay Lane is like smoking weed that smells & tastes good but has zero THC.

By far the worst Primus show I ever saw was with Lane at the Great American Music Hall. In that setting it should have been a great show, and it was by far the best I've ever seen Lane play, but for a Primus show, compared to Tim Alexander or Brain, it was weak sauce.

He can keep a beat, but I've never thought he was good enough for Weir, let alone good enough for a raging band like Primus.

Which is almost certainly why he lost that job way back in the day.

my understanding is that lane left primus right before they took off of his own volition for a more lucrative offer playing Minneapolis style funk in some project that didn't end up panning out.

it was the late 80's and the prince sound was king, if you'll recall.
 

>>>not exactly right version of Les Claypool
 

I wouldn' t say they're not right, just not as Les as possible.

no one's disputing primus is the best or most claypool project.

my wife's a bigger fan of Les than most of the shit I go see and will occasionally come along with me to catch his side stuff but always somewhat begrudgingly and always vocalizes at some point that she wished it was primus instead.

that's y I went to the 30th instead of nye this year, she just Couldn't commit before it sold out.

that was some shit though, I know oysterhead and Bernie brains grew out of purely improv sessions but I'd never seen Les do one in person.

Since most of the ensemble music I've been Involved with myself these last few years has been overwhelming improvisational, It was a pretty intense and surreal experience cause he sure don't have the chordal and theory knowledge/instincts of a jazz guy or even a member of the Grateful Dead.

that vinnie colaiuta was something else though if u want to talk about seeing Les with a skilled drummer.

he's a kind of a weird dude and not exactly the most suited or familiar with claypool's work but the guy's chops r kinda scary, even for being clearly unrehearsed and a bit out of his element.

>>>Still, I think my questions about the overall quality of this band, as apposed to just getting excited about the NAME is fair enough. I'm just asking questions.

The band'll b fine.

all claypool's bands, except maybe oysterhead, r fine.

All he needs is skerik and mike Dillion and he's off and running cause not only r they alt weirdos like like les but they possess the more nuanced, informed and academic music schooling I alluded to earlier that he very much lacks.
he shields himself with them and everything else is just window dressing.

And I've already acknowledged the frog brigade is a bit of a misnomer as this lineup is much more of a fancy band delirium hybrid creature and the frog label is more a reference to what the set lists r likely to look like.

I have answers to most your questions regarding this so feel free to keep asking but u know as well as I do there may not b answers to the answers, maaaaaan

If you keep responding E, I'll keep coming up with questions.

Your posts are black screen gold.

And your wife sounds cool to me. Count me as a fan.

BTW, did you know that Les sat in with the Residents at a semi- secret show in SF a couple weeks ago?

I had a ticket but because of multiple aging/life issues I couldn't make it. They also played with a large group of SF Conservatory of Music students, which was where the show happened. By all reports it was amazing, and I'm bummed to have missed it, especially the Les bit.

I've always known that Les is heavily influenced by the Rezzies (pretty obvious to anyone who has followed Les) but I've always wanted to see him with them. Oh well, maybe next time?

Oh, so here's another question... Will Skerik FOR ONCE be turned up loud enough in the mix to be heard? In all the many, many different settings I have seen that great player over many years, it confounds me that I can virtually never hear him well enough, or at all. It's oddly consistent, and maddenly frustrating.

Do something about that, would you?

Ah, you must have added that bit about Lane leaving Primus on his own while I was typing out my response jabber. That's funny, and I'm sure Les was relieved that he didn't have to can Lane when Primus got bigger, as he absolutely would have had to do.

And I'd bet Lane was bummed when he saw the band break with the MUCH better Tim Alexander after he left.

Too bad for him, WAY better for the rest of us. Lane is a pro, but Primus needs a big league drummer and Lane is not big league. Still, it ended well for him, once he got hooked up with good ol' Bob, who only asks his drummers to show up at some point, and keep a slow, simple beat.

And Vinnie Colaiuta played in Claypool's Bastard Jazz band for those New Years shows? Damn, THAT dude is big league. Stanton Moore was the drummer the couple times I saw that band, but then he was probably booked with Galactic over NYE. Colaiuta is a damn good backup plan (and in that band maybe a better choice).

Too bad Ruth Underwood never jammed with Claypool, now that would be a match imo 

Mike Dillon is playing here this month. WooT!

>>>your wife sounds cool

baddest bitch I've ever known.

she has little appreciation for all the inaccessible art I'm always wrapped up in but she gives me plenty of space to wallow in it while still keeping my ego in check.

prefers a quiet night at home but has still gone on so many adventures with me, musical and otherwise, over the almost 20 years we've been together.

she could also out toke, out dose and out cuss anyone I've ever known, I'm very fortunate to have found my Furious She.

>>>>Les sat in with the residents

I was wondering if u had made it out to that.

Obviously the crew and I considered it but we decided it was a bit too rich for our blood and opted for the last night of the gamh in April.

I figured Les would b one of the guests but, honestly, if he wasn't gonna play bass and just sing lead on a song, I consider it sort of a wash as the residents already have a lead singer and he's the best part of the band.

However, the collaborations I saw on YouTube with students of the conservatory were really unique and interesting.

For being a semi-private show it still didn't look as intimate as the one at the sweetwater last year though, lol.

that was special, the residents r such a special project and yes, one of claypool's biggest influences along with rush, Tom waits and slap bass heavy 70's funk.

god what a weird mix, no wonder it's not everyone's cup of tea.

I'm all in though.

don't know what to tell u about your unfortunate skerik situation, that's a damn shame.

i can't recall that ever being much of an issues at the performances I've attended.

I know u like to chill in the back but maybe u need to get closer into the skerik zone, so to speak.

>>>still it ended well for him

yeah, he really missed out but, as so frequently occurs in music, he seems to have ended up where he was supposed to b.

it so satisfying when the right guy ends up at the right gig and it usually doesn't have nearly as much to do with skill level as it does with style and personality, which is y the colaiuta shows were such a head fuck.

was he the most suited drummer to sub for moore as u correctly assumed had prior nye galactic obligations?

 probably not.

Is he one of the most skilled and interesting fusion drummers of all time?

possibly, guy's a goddamn freak and was the whole reason I went down there but at the end of the night it was all about claypool pushing himself to the extent of his abilities, hitting walls, experimenting, having fun and doing it on his relative home turf for friends and family, pure love of the game.

that's the kind of exclusive shit I love to see, reminded a bit of txr.

that's the stuff that made me want to live in Northern California and keeps me coming back to the bay.

>>>now that would b a match

no more than mike Dillion, and most likely less so.

Similar to my points about colaiuta, Ruth is a genius and Zappa was the perfect gig for her at that time in her life.

Dillion stayed long after the show on the 30th, meet and greeting anyone interested till the last person left, his parents were there and he looked happy as a clam cause he's stoked to b there, it's the perfect gig for him and as a music fan, u just love to see when that happens.

may everyone find their perfect gigs in life

No spot desired or taken

Got Madonna Inn tickets. 

>>Jay Lane is like smoking weed that smells & tastes good but has zero THC.<<

gold.

the only time i saw primus was at a festy in wv w/ vorty. it was packed, they were one of the headliners. got to see show at front of soundboard with gates protecting from the throngs of people. 

And? 
what did u think, turtle?

was lane on drums at the time?

>>>got Madonna inn tickets

Fuck yeah, slacker.

show those yuppie tourist trap bitches what the claypool scene all about

This about settles it:

https://youtu.be/Kn66deEvUW8

>>>Montrose with Sammy definitely was when Montrose was Montrose, but that wouldn't have been '79.

Well I'll be dipped in dogshit... all these years I thought it was Montrose w/Hagar, but after doing some digging it turns out it was actually Gamma.  I did see at least one mention of Montrose sitting in with Sammy in 1978 (NYE at the Cow Palace), but I can't verify if Sammy ever sat in with Gamma (the guy who sang Bad Motor Scooter that night sure did sound like Sammy).

But looking into this has lifted a huge regret off my shoulders. The show was in September I had just gotten un-grounded for getting in big trouble (got wasted, chased some girls) over the Summer break and was on a strict curfew (10pm).  If I got home late, I would 'never get to go to another show for the rest of my adolescent life', or so my Republican-kind-of-guy dad threatened.

So I walked out after the Gamma set and up until this day I always kicked myself for not seeing at least some of the BOC set, but while looking back at old show reviews, I learned that Buck Dharma passed out during the 2nd song and the show was canceled!  My only regret now is not seeing a rock star pass out at my first indoor show lol.

>>And? 
what did u think, turtle?<<

good, fun. wouldn't go out of may way or pay big $. claypool is sick, i don't remember who was on drums. place was packed. i showed the lammy to the giant security guard. he says "follow me"..dude was about 6.7', 300lbs...flashlight out, parted an entire festy GA crowd like moses to get me and my buddy X the venue. thanks!

Can y'all feel the love in this messed up claypool thread?

I'd like to think I added a little color to this thread, one that might have otherwise been a bit one-note.

And I'm always happy to shine the light on knowledge Googly. Gamma opening for BOC in '79 sounds about right. I saw them open for Utopia at the Greek that same year.

Oh, and Turtle, as someone who knows a thing or two about parting feisty GA crowds, it wasn't the size of the security dude that parted that crowd, it was the flashlight.

No amount of girth, fancy laminates or level of authority has the power of a simple flashlight in a dark, crowded room. It's a magic wand, and I NEVER go to a show without one.

OK, that's enough knowledge for now.

I used to get paid for this.

>>>might have otherwise been a bit one-note.
 

perhaps that's somewhat fitting as claypool has been criticized for being a bit of a one trick pony and more of a personality closer to the likes of evil knievel, the Harlem globe trotters or a skilled ventriloquist than revolutionary musical artists such as Mingus or Bach.

And that's fine by me, sometimes the circus can b more fun than the opera and maybe always so depending on who u ask.

there's room for all kinds and levels of music and creativity in this wacky world of ours