by Greg Ferguson.
One Step Beyond, San Jose, CA. May 17, 1991.
TED ZEPPELIN was cool. I found out that 3 of the members are also in the Limbomaniacs. They are a Ted Nugent/Led Zeppelin cover band, and did a damn good job! They played stuff like "Free For All", "Stormtroopers", from Ted; and "Heartbreaker" and "The Ocean" from Led Zep. Cool. Good singer. Give 'em a 8.
PRIMUS was amazing!! I've seen 'em three times, and each time they sound better. They actually tried stuff that seemed slower, more "psychedelic", then in past shows. Really hot! They opened with "Here Come the Bastards", did a super version of "Sgt Baker", a great tune off the new album, swung into "Too Many Puppies" from "Frizzle Fry", and then did "To Defy the Laws of Tradition"...which led into..."Those Damn Blue Collar Tweekers"...ouch. My two favorite Primus tunes back to back. I almost didn't make it! The moshing was the most intense I've seen!!! I got my legs kicked out once, and about 4 people piled on top of me, but we all managed to survive! I thought I was gonna pass out from a lack of oxygen after "To Defy..", and then they started with the whistle-effect at the beginning of "Blue-Collar.."!!! Some of the moshers were real idiots, and you could tell 1) they were totally fucked up, and 2) they were out to hurt people, and not have a good time. I had a couple guys pegged, but then decided to back off, since that would've just dragged me down to their level. But c'mon, I saw one dude pick up another dude and slam him down to the floor in the middle of the pit. What a fuck...
Anyway, they also played "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver", "american Life" (another GREAT tune off the new one), "Tommy the Cat", and "Fish On"...all from "Sailing the Seas of Cheese", the new album. Les was great, not just his playing, but his interaction with the crowd, the stuff he threw out, and just the overall attitude of the band...They also did a bunch of stuff from "Frizzle", but not "John the Fisherman" (oh well). Les had amp problems toward the end of the set, but they patched into another one for the encore. This tune isn't on any of the albums, but I've seen 'em end with this before, it goes something like "I just want to satisfy you... Drive It (or Strike it).." or something like that [ed: "Jellikit"]. Give the show a 9.5, cuz they only did one encore. The sound, by the way, was GREAT!!!