Rush ‘A Farwell To Kings’ Tribute Show [Concert Review]

The Rush album 'A Farewell to Kings' was released in 1977 as their fifth studio album.  On and off for a while there was talk going around that Primus would be touring and playing this album in its entirety as a tribute to Rush.

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It seems like forever ago that one of my youngest siblings hit me up and asked if I would go with.  I've seen Primus in the past and thought I'm not the biggest Rush fan, I was incredibly interested in going.  Primus in doing their own music is always great live, and with a creative guy like Les Claypool at the helm of a Rush tribute show, I knew there was no way it could be bad.

We piled in my Wife's Toyota Yaris to save coin on fuel and headed to St. Paul for the show at The Palace Theater.  My sibling got us floor tickets and it was a pretty packed place, which I expected it to be.

There was a fine mix of Rush and Primus diehard fans alike.  As far as Primus fans, you generally get people of all walks of life.  There will be people in polo shirts next to dirty bikers, hippy types, and people of all ages.  It really is a fun thing to see at a concert.

Primus opened the show with several of their songs, followed by a short break before pushing into 'A Farewell to Kings'.  Everything Primus played that night was spot on, the music was tight, and Les really sang those Rush songs expertly.  That didn't surprise me or anything, it was just neat to see it done so well.  You can tell he was really passionate about playing some true Rush classics.  Geddy Lee even gave high praises after seeing it live.

If you get a chance to catch this tour, I suggest you do.  Even if you're a lesser Rush fan, I think you'll appreciate the finely tuned performance.  At a minimum, you can't go wrong with the ever so quirky Primus and Les Claypool slapping that bass and melting your face.