Music

[Live Review] Primus At The Michigan Theater

Published

13 years ago

October 21, 2011

Just over a week ago, the ever insane and entertaining Primus played in front of a sold out crowd in the historic Michigan Theater in downtown Ann Arbor, MI, home of the Michigan Wolverines (Go Blue!). Standing in front of over 1,700 people, Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde, and Jay Lane provided nearly three hours of music, visuals, and more.

Check after the jump for more live photos.

With moody lighting coming from behind, the band looked like frenzied shadow demons writhing and dancing in front of 15ft. tall inflatable astronauts with projected faces. Rocking through a first half that included some of my personal favorites (Jerry Was A Race Car Driver followed by Tommy The Cat), the energy was high and the crowd roared with approval after each song.

Cue to an intermission that featured three classic Popeye cartoons. Definitely one of the better ways to give the band a rest and not allow the crowd to get bored, the cartoons had the crowd laughing and engaged. My personal favorite was, quite obviously, Shiver Me Timbers, where Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy stumble upon a haunted ghost ship.

After the intermission, the band returned to the stage to perform their latest album, Green Naugahyde, in its entirety. While the album is a lot of fun, the second half of the show seemed to lose some of the energy and excitement the first half had. While still visually beautiful and engaging, the songs didn’t hit as hard or get the crowd as pumped up. Rather, the second half seemed more like a jam band getting the crowd almost high on music. Oh, speaking of that, those of you who sneakily smoke pot during a show? Knock it off. The last thing I want is your skunky, nasty smoke invading my nostrils while I’m trying to have a good time.

Overall, Primus put on one hell of a show that captivated the audience both musically as well as personally. While the second half didn’t hold me as well as the first half, it still surpassed what most bands dish out over their entire show.

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JonathanBarkan

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Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

1 week ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…