Primus have revealed that they’ll head out on tour across North America this summer on a Rush covers tour.
Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde and Tim Alexander will play a total of 46 dates, with Wolfmother, The Sword and Battles joining them on the run.
Primus will perform Rush’s 1977 album A Farewell To Kings in full on the tour branded A Tribute To Kings, with the shows announced after the death of Rush drummer Neil Peart last month.
Bassist and vocalist Claypool tells Rolling Stone that the idea for the tour has been kicking around for a while and they had been planning on doing the shows last year, but that was shelved due to their tour with Slayer.
He says: “We’re trying to be very sensitive about doing the tour and not having it be, ‘Hey, all about Neil.’ It’s about admiration for these amazing musicians and friends.”
Claypool adds that he spoke to Rush’s Geddy Lee before the tour was announced, and says: “I texted with him – I keep in touch with Geddy – just to make sure we weren’t trodding on something weird. So I checked in with him to see what he thought of it, and he was excited about the notion.”
Asked if Peart’s death had affected the tour plans, Claypool replies: "Well, it makes the plans a little more… we’re trying to be as sensitive as we possibly can, so it doesn’t appear like we’re just jumping on the, “Hey, a superhero has died, let’s go out and do a tribute to him,” type thing.
“So we’re trying to be sensitive to that, and also Neil was a very, very, very private person, so I don’t know how much he would want this or his family would want us talking about a lot of this stuff anyway.
“So I had known he had been sick for a while. Stewart Copeland was pretty close to him up until the end, so I would get little reports through Stewart every now and again as to what was happening. So it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it’s still a very jolting thing. When your heroes and friends start to leave the planet, it snaps you to.”
Primus will open with A Farewell To Kings set before taking a break and returning to the stage for a set of Primus tracks.
Primus A Tribute To Kings 2020 North American tour
May 26: Irving The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, TX
May 27: Houston Revention Music Center, TX
May 29: Austin ACL Live at the Moody Theater, TX
May 30: New Orleans Saenger Theater, LA
Jun 01: Asheville ExploreAsheville.com Arena, NC
Jun 03: Orlando Hard Rock Live Orlando, FL
Jun 05: Atlanta Coca-Cola Roxy, GA
Jun 06: Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre, NC
Jun 07: Raleigh Red Hat Amphitheater, NC
Jun 09: Cincinnati PNC Pavilion, OH
Jun 10: Columbus Express Live!, OH
Jun 12: Manchester Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival, TN
Jun 15: Richmond Virginia Credit Union LIVE!, VA
Jun 16: Baltimore MECU Pavilion, MD
Jun 17: New York Beacon Theatre, NY
Jun 19: Philadelphia The Met Philadelphia, PA
Jun 20: Asbury Park The Stone Pony Summer Stage, NJ
Jun 21: Essex Junction Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Exposition, VT
Jun 23: Boston Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion, MA
Jun 24: Wallingford Toyota Oakdale Theatre, CT
Jun 26: Sterling Heights Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, MI
Jun 27: Cleveland Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, OH
Jun 28: Pittsburgh Stage AE, PA
Jun 30: Toronto RBC Echo Beach, ON
Jul 02: Lafayette Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards, NY
Jul 03: Westbrook Main Savings Pavilion at Rock Row, ME
Jul 06: Indianapolis The Amphitheater at White River State Park, IN
Jul 07: Milwaukee BMO Harris Pavilion, WI
Jul 08: Minneapolis The Armory, MN
Jul 10: Chicago The Chicago Theatre, IL
Jul 11: St Louis Saint Louis Music Park, MO
Jul 12: Kansas City CrossroadsKC, MO
Jul 14: Denver The Mission Ballroom, CO
Jul 15: Salt Lake City The Complex, UT
Jul 17: Berkeley Greek Theater, CA
Jul 18: Los Angeles Greek Theatre, CA
Jul 19: Las Vegas Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort, NV
Jul 21: Boise Outlaw Field at Idaho Botanical Garden, ID
Jul 23: Bonner KettleHouse Amphitheater, MT
Jul 24: Redmond Marymoor Park, WA
Jul 25: Troutdale Edgefield, OR
Jul 28: Spokane Riverfront Park Amphitheater, WA
Jul 29: Bend Les Schwab Amphitheater, OR
Jul 31: Paso Robles Vina Robles Amphitheatre, CA
Aug 01: San Diego Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU, CA
Aug 02: Phoenix Arizona Federal Theatre, AZ
