Primus to honor Rush in 'A Tribute to Kings' tour by playing 1977 'A Farewell to Kings' album in entirety
This summer, funk-metal legends Primus will be embarking on a North American tour and paying homage to one of the greatest prog-rock acts of all time, Rush.
However, it's not just a tribute in the form of a singular song — Primus decided to go the whole hog by playing Rush's 1977 classic album 'A Farewell to Kings' in its complex entirety, in addition to their own intrepid music.
The cross-country tour is going to be called 'A Tribute to Kings' and will commence around the end of May.
Legendary Rush drummer, Neil Peart, sadly passed away earlier this year on January 7 and he was known as one of the best beat-masters and songwriters in rock music, so this tour will be extra auspicious and thoroughly deserved.
On 'A Tribute To Kings', Australian rock band Wolfmother is slated to open for Primus the entire tour, with additional support from other talented bands like The Sword and Battles.
Speaking about Canadian band Rush's influence on his own band, Primus frontman Les Claypool said, "Geddy (Lee), Alex (Lifeson) and Neil (Peart) had been superheroes to Larry (LaLonde), Herb (Tim Alexander) and I in our teens."
"So when we all became pals while touring together in the early '90s, we were pretty delighted - partially because of the musical geek-out factor, but mostly because the three guys whom we had admired so much from afar, turned out to be truly great, down-to-earth humans, and like us, a tad eccentric," the legendary bassist revealed.
Claypool also explained how the ambitious venture came about. "A little over one year ago, Ler LaLonde and I started kicking the idea around of Primus performing a series of shows featuring an iconic Rush album from our youth."
"Being that 'A Farewell to Kings' was the first Rush record I ever heard, and that it contains my all-time favorite Rush tune, 'Cygnus X-1', the choice narrowed quickly," he added.
A Tribute to Kings spans 46 dates from May through August, and will make a stop at the 2020 Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival, as well as at major cities such as Austin, Atlanta, Orlando, New York, Cleveland, Toronto, Chicago and more.
The tribute tour starts off in Irving, Texas on May 26, and the final show will take place on August 2 in Phoenix, Arizona. For a complete list of tour dates and venues, click here.