Primus, Dinosaur Jr, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger - July 23, 2015 - Festival Pier, Philadelphia, PA

In my third concert in as many weeks, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger and Dinosaur Jr opened for Primus at Festival Pier at Penn's Landing. Although Primus was the headliner, I was there to see J. Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. It didn't take me long to see Mascis as his recognizable long white hair passed our car as we pulled in for street parking! If only we showed up a couple minutes earlier, I could have posed with him for a priceless picture!

As we entered the venue, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger setlist was already underway. They formed in 2008 and are fronted by Sean Lennon, the son of John Lennon. The music was pretty good and you can hear the 60s psychedelic sound that they said has influenced them. The best song of their setlist had to have been "Animals," the third song off of their 2014 album Midnight Sun. The catchy harmonies and chorus can't be missed. They also played their biggest hit, "Jardin Du Luxembourg," which was produced by Mark Ronson.

One of the loudest bands on the planet, Dinosaur Jr, was up next and it was everything I hoped for. J. Mascis, one of the true guitar heros of all time, played his iconic thunderous guitar. Mascis and bassist Lou Barlow alternated with singing duties and provided energy throughout the set. They broke out one of the best covers with The Cure's "Just Like Heaven," a very heavy version with screaming lyrics and an incredible grungy guitar sound that no one other than Mascis can pull off. I was excited to hear "Watch the Corners" from their most recent album I Bet On Sky. Although they played for almost an hour, a long time for an opening act, I wish they playing a little longer. I was satisfied with what they played but, I wanted to hear "The Wagon" and "What Else is New." If I want them to play longer with more of the songs I want to hear, I will have to see them again in the future, next time as the headliners.

Although I'm not a fan of Primus, I decided to stick around to see what they are all about. Before the band came on at about 9:15, giant mushrooms were inflated on either side of the stage with a video screen in the middle behind the drums. The screen was used to display bizarre and sometimes humorous videos to go along with the songs. In my mind, if a band uses various objects and methods to entertain the audience, they are admitting that their music is not their strong suit. Primus is that kind of band. They have some interesting bass lines from frontman Les Claypool but other than that there is not much to hear. Claypool's vocals are hard to understand and even if you could understand them I don't think it would have much meaning. Their set was a good laugh, just look at the song titles below, but not something I would listen to on my own time. Despite what I think, the fans of Primus don't care and thoroughly enjoyed what they saw and heard. Many were dancing to the low beats of the bass and cheered in unison after every song. Primus are strange and different but intriguing and captivating, like watching a bad television show. One positive was that Claypool understood how to acknowledge and talk to the crowd. He was witty, cracking jokes and making smart comments. Overall their show was comical and somewhat entertaining but not something I would recommend or see again.

Setlist:

Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger:
1.  Too Deep
2.  Xanadu
3.  Animals
4.  Midnight Sun
5.  Golden Earrings (Gandalf cover)
6.  Devil You Know
7.  Long Gone (Syd Barrett cover)

Dinosaur Jr:
1.  Bulbs of Passion
2.  Start Choppin'
3.  Back to Your Heart
4.  Watch the Corners
5.  Out There
6.  Feel the Pain
7.  Just Like Heaven (The Cure cover)
8.  Freak Scene
9.  Pieces
10. Training Ground (Deep Wound cover)

Primus:
1.  Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers
2.  Last Salmon Man
3.  Wynona's Big Brown Beaver
4.  American Life
5.  Over the Falls
6.  The Good, The Bad and the Ugly tease
7.  Lee Van Cleef
8.  Jilly's on Smack

9.  Drum and Whamola Jam
10. Eleven
11. Groundhog's Day

12. My Name Is Mud
13. Over the Electric Grapevine
14. Jerry Was a Race Car Driver

Encore:
15. Southbound Pachyderm
16. Too Many Puppies