Primus, Clutch

Primus and Clutch will perform full speed ahead at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, in the outdoor arena at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Advance tickets range from $40 general admission to $299 VIP for the all-ages show. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. San Francisco-based Primus is fronted by the incredibly quirky fun guy Les Claypool. Clutch represents East Coast rockers, hailing from Frederick, Maryland.

Tahoe’s longtime fans of Primus will remember the snowy Boarding for Breast Cancer performance at Sierra-at-Tahoe. It was held in the late 1990s, or, for purposes of this story, an El Sobrante Fortnight ago.

“I just remember playing in the sleet and the slush,” Claypool recalled. “I forget who was playing after us but they didn’t want to play. They chickened out. We took the stage. I was worried about getting electricuted. It was actually pretty amazing. It was the most adverse conditions I’ve ever had to deal with but it actually turned out to be a pretty amazing thing.”

Les Claypool stays in the shadows onstage at the 2013 High Sierra Music Festival. During the show, Claypool threatened to walk off the stage after he dodged a snowball. Later, the power went out, so he played a solo acoustic rendition of “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver.”

One of Claypool’s early bands was called Primate, which might explain why he often wears a monkey mask. Primus hit the big time in the early 1990s with its “Pork Soda” album and the song “My Name is Mud.” It peaked out after the members wore penguin outfits and played “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver” on David Letterman, who reportedly was enraged by the display.

Since then, Claypool has had numerous bands and collaborations, but he has continued to revive Primus.

Before a 2009 show at MontBleu, Claypool said, “It’s going to be one of those things where people are going to go, ‘What the hell is going on here,’” he said. “I personally enjoy that reaction.”