Live And In The Flesh
Les Claypool - July 16, 2009
Les Claypool's second solo album Of Fungi and Foe dropped earlier that March. We had actually caught him in Toronto at The Guvernment a week after its release during the Les Claypool/Saul Williams/Secret Chiefs 3 - The Oddity Faire: A Mutated Mini Fest Tour. We had a pretty good idea of what we would be in for that night in Ottawa at Bluesfest with Les, and we knew it wasn't to be missed!
There were a few other noteworthy acts playing that Thursday night. Styx were headlining the main stage around the same time Les Claypool was on, so we had to pass up their performance unfortunately. Busta Rhymes was also scheduled to play that night, so we thought we should check him out since we were planning on being down there anyhow. We made our way over to see Busta and there was good-sized crowd already waiting. We were left waiting, and waiting, and waiting. What was to be an hour long set ended up being a shortened twenty minute mash up of some of his hits throughout his twenty year career. The fact he went as far back as Scenario, A Tribe Called Quest hit, would somewhat make up for the delay. I would have much rather heard the entire track though, rather than just a bunch of teasers.
After we were through with that disappointment we decided to start making our way over to the stage that would house Les Claypool for the night. On our way we stumbled across Live playing their set on the second stage. We caught a few of their popular hits, I Alone, Lightning Crashes, among others that they dusted off from their Throwing Copper album. I was glad to have at least caught those two tracks live. We didn't want to get stuck too far back in the crowd over at Les so we didn't stick around for much more than that.
We arrived to the stage to see that we were showing up just in time as Claypool was making his entrance to the cheers of the crowd. The members of the band were all wearing masks to alter their identities, while Les would change his up all throughout the set. The masks had made them all look like old peculiar men up on stage. It certainly added an extra element to the performance. They opened up with Rumble of the Diesel from Of Whales and Woe to get things started, and then into Ding Dang, a Les Claypool Frog Brigade track. Les would then break out a track from his latest Of Fungi and Foe album - Amanitas before blowing us away with the David Makalaster - Southbound Pachyderm - David Makalaster mashup. Watching Les tear up the bass guitar was incredible, by far one of the best bassists of our generation. The percussionist, cellist and drummer were all at the top of their game throughout the show as well. The cello and the xylophone really added that extra layer to Les' extraordinary bass skills. Red State Girl and Russian Dance were played just before Precipitation, a classic Les Claypool and The Holy Mackerel song brought back from the dead.
Les even busted out one of his homemade upright bass instruments, which consisted of what looked like a simple wooden box strapped with a few strings and a bicycle break set up as a whammy bar up at the neck. Watching him jam on that with a bow while he was suited up in a monkey mask was something else. It would have certainly made for one hell of a trip if you had been on some heavy substances that night. Claypool and his group of cronies treated us to a classic Primus track from the Brown Album, Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread before wrapping everything up with another song from the Les Claypool Frog Brigade's Purple Onion album Cosmic Highway.
Les certainly didn't disappoint at all down at Bluesfest in Ottawa. He brought his A-game as he has always been known for and blew us all away with his fourteen track setlist filled of odds and ends from his thirty year career. There was no doubt that he was a master at his craft. To see him play live has and always will be phenomenal.