Primus has announced an extensive, 46-date, coast-to-coast extension of its wildly popular A Tribute To Kings Tour, paying homage to prog-rock legends, Rush. A Tribute To Kings will find the Bay area trio performing Rush’s 1977 album A Farewell To Kings in its entirety, following a set of their own music. As bassist Les Claypool told Rolling Stone, the tour is about paying tribute to a band that has given him so much inspiration over the years.

“Hemispheres was my first concert,” Claypool said, referring to Rush’s 1978 album and tour. “Originally we’d always kind of joked around about doing Hemispheres…but we settled on Kings, because A) it was the first Rush record I ever heard and B) it contains ‘Cygnus X-1,’ which has always been my favorite Rush tune. It seems to be a good one for us to tackle; 2112 seemed a little obvious.”

The announcement follows the massive success of the first leg of A Tribute To Kings, which was long-delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It’s just the latest in a long series of Rush-related milestones for Primus, who first opened for their musical heroes in 1992.

“Geddy, Alex and Neil had been superheroes to Larry, Herb and I in our teens,” Claypool recalled, “so when we all became pals while touring together in the early '90s, we were pretty delighted; partially because of the musical geek-out factor but mostly because the three guys whom we had admired so much from afar, turned out to be truly great, down-to-earth humans, and like us, a tad eccentric.”

Kicking off in Oklahoma City before winding its way throughout the US, the second leg of A Tribute To Kings will also include the tour’s first stops in Canada, beginning with two dates in Toronto on May 13-14. Rush was formed in Toronto in 1968. The second leg will also feature special guests Battles, Black Mountain, and The Black Angels.

A special pre-sale, including VIP upgrade options, will go on sale at 12 PM, local time today (12/14). Tickets go on sale to the general public at this Friday, December 17 at 10 AM local time. For ticketing and show info, please visit primusville.com/tour.

Primus will once again partner with On Location & CID Entertainment for the A Tribute to Kings tour to offer ticket packages that include one premium ticket, invitation to a Q&A experience with Primus, exclusive VIP merch, and more. For full details, visit cidentertainment.com/events/primus-tour/.

Tour dates:

April
15 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Criterion *
16 - San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theatre *
19 - Springfield, MO - Gillioz Theatre *
20 - Kansas City, MO - Grinders KC *^
22 - Cedar Rapids, IA - McGrath Amphitheatre *^
23 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee *
25 - Knoxville, TN - Tennessee Theatre*
27 - New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre *^
30 - Huntsville, AL - Mars Music Hall, Von Braun Center *

May
3 - Miami Beach, FL - The Fillmore *
4 - St. Petersburg, FL - Mahaffey Theater, Duke Energy Center for the Arts *
6 - North Charleston, SC - North Charleston Performing Arts Center *
7 - Saint Augustine, FL - The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre *
9 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium *
10 - Fort Wayne, IN - The Clyde Theatre *
13 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall +
14 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall +
16 - Montreal, QC - L'Olympia +
17 - Quebec, QC - Videotron Centre +
18 - Albany, NY - Palace Theatre *
20 - Port Chester, NY - The Capitol Theatre *
21 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theater *
22 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount *
24 - Washington, D.C. - Warner Theatre *
25 - Bethlehem, PA - The Wind Creek Event Center *
27 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa *
28 - LaFayette, NY - Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards *
30 - Louisville, KY - Old Forester’s Paristown Hall *
31 - Grand Rapids, MI - GLC Live at 20 Monroe *

June
2 - Milwaukee, WI - BMO Harris Pavilion  *^
3 - Saint Paul, MN - Palace Theatre *
4 - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts +
6 - Regina, SK - Conexus Arts Centre - Capital Auto Theatre +
7 - Saskatoon, SK - TCU Place - Sid Buckwold Theatre +
9 - Calgary, AB - Grey Eagle Event Centre, Grey Eagle Resort & Casino +
10 - Edmonton, AB - Edmonton Expo Centre +
12 - Vancouver, BC - The Orpheum +
14 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield ~
15 - Redding, CA - Redding Civic Auditorium ~
17 - Sacramento, CA - Sacramento Memorial Auditorium ~
18 - Reno, NV - Grand Theatre, Grand Sierra Resort and Casino ~
19 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic ~
21 - Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theatre ~
23 - Riverside, CA - Riverside Municipal Auditorium ~
24 - Long Beach, CA - Terrace Theater, Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center ~
25 - Las Vegas, NV - The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas  ~^

* with Battles
+ with Black Mountain
~ with The Black Angels

(Top photo - Randy Johnson)