Primus Secundus

It was roughly this time last year that I first saw Primus in concert. This past Saturday night, they returned to Denver -- this time to the Fillmore -- and I went to see them again. Last time, they were heavily promoting their latest album, Green Naugahyde. This time was more of a general concert, with the "gimmick" being a 3D element.

"Aren't all concerts 3D?" you might ask. If so, you'd be like half the people I mentioned this event to ahead of time, so seriously, get some original material. In any case, the answer is, no, not quite like this. The big screen on stage behind the band, used to project random video elements throughout the concert, was on this occasion displaying 3D images. Glasses like the ones commonly used at movie theaters were handed out at the door, and you wore them throughout the event.

Some people were clearly experiencing the sort of... chemical effects... to make such a presentation particularly impressive. In my uninfluenced state, I'd call it a mixed bag. Some of the images were well-conceived, such as the aquarium-like bubbles that accompanied "Last Salmon Man." Others, like the hyperspace star streaks that accompanied two or three other songs, simply weren't that impressive. But if any band was to do a gimmick like this, Primus was probably one of the better choices. I wrote of their last concert that they like to play on a very dimly lit stage anyway, shrouding themselves in near darkness. That hasn't changed a bit, although the low light levels made the screen behind them pop even more to the eye.

The music itself was pretty good. I still have a great deal of respect for the musical skill of the band members. But their set list this time wasn't as solid to my ears. The evening actually made me realize more just how good an album their latest, Green Naugahyde, really is. It's probably my favorite, actually. And since they'd just released it in 2011, they played the entire album from beginning to end as their second set of the evening. On this occasion, they just mixed a few tracks from it with their other material -- and not nearly enough from my other favorite album of theirs, the much earlier Frizzle Fry.

Still, the evening was fun, the music both entertaining and weird, and the 3D visuals occasionally inspired. In all, I'd call it a good night out.