A genre-defying band performing its first live shows in 20 years will be part of Red Butte Garden’s summer concert series.
Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade — a funk/rock/jam project Claypool started when his other band, the alt-rock monster Primus, was on a break — will perform Tuesday, May 23, at Red Butte Garden’s outdoor amphitheater, at 300 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City.
The genre-crossing funk-rock band Fishbone will be the opening act.
Tickets for the show will go on sale to Garden members on Thursday at 10 a.m., and to the public on Friday at 10 a.m. Anyone who wants to become a Garden member and take advantage of the one-day head start should do so by noon Wednesday. Go to RedButteGarden.org/concerts to get tickets.
It’s the first show announced for the summer series. A fuller lineup is scheduled to be announced in mid-April.
Claypool formed the band in 2000, calling it “kind of a King Crimson meets Pink Floyd meets Frank Zappa type thing.” The band released two live albums in 2001, followed by the studio album “Purple Onion” in 2002. Its last live show before this upcoming tour was on May 10, 2003, at the House of Blues in Orlando, Florida.
As leader of Primus, Claypool has charted such songs as “My Name Is Mud,” “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” and “Tommy the Cat.” His voice is also familiar to anyone who has heard the “South Park” theme song.
The band’s lineup on the “Summer of Green” tour, in addition to Claypool on bass, is an eclectic and talented one. Guitarist Sean Lennon, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, previously formed part of The Claypool Lennon Delirium. Keyboardist Harry Waters is the son of Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters. Drummer Paulo Baldi, who also played with the Delirium, is a former member of the band Cake. Percussionist Mike Dillon and horn player Skerik were both part of a trio called the Dead Kenny G’s.
The band’s set list for the tour will include a full performance of Pink Floyd’s iconic 1977 album “Animals” — which they captured on the band’s second live album, “Live Frogs Set 2,” in 2001.
Claypool, in a news release when the band’s tour schedule was announced in late January, said, “In an age of calibrated chaos, moral constipation, and conspiranoia, it is reassuring to know that certain frogs can and do fly.”
Red Butte Garden will also have a new presenting sponsor for the 2023 concert series: Toyota.
