It was announced in February 2020 that Primus would (finally) pay homage to prog-rock legends Rush with A Tribute To Kings, a cross-country tour that will feature the Bay Area trio playing Rush's classic 1977 album A Farewell To Kings in its entirety, in addition to their own music. Those plans were scrapped due to the ongoing global pandemic, but bandleader Les Claypool has checked in with some good news:

"Finally, the clouds are parting, the planets are aligning, the dough is rising…whatever metaphor floats your preverbal boat, Primus is going on tour again. We were poised and ready for a massive, bent-rock extravaganza when the gremlins of Covid came and yanked the rug out from under us all. I personally have been climbing the walls like a shit-house rat and, after my first season off in 30 some odd years, I’m very anxious and excited to stand in front of the microphone with my four string piece of furniture and belt out some girthy ditties to sweaty throngs of punters. 

As government restrictions and current health & safety protocols continue to be monitored, we have slightly shifted the A Tribute To Kings tour to begin this August and run through October. Check out the list of newly rescheduled dates.

Special guests Wolfmother will be still be joining for the entire tour and The Sword will open select dates. All original tickets will be honored. For those not able to attend the newly rescheduled dates, a refund window is now available for the next 30 days from the original point of purchase.

Due to international travel advisories, Toronto, Ontario is cancelled as we work to make new plans across multiple Canadian cities in 2022. Lafayette, NY and Minneapolis, MN were also unfortunately not able to fit into our immediate plans and have been cancelled. Refunds will be issued from point of purchase. Tickets, including VIP upgrades, are available at Primusville.com."

Following is Claypool's original 2020 announcement for A Tribute To Kings:

"A little over one year ago, Ler Lalonde and I started kicking the idea around of Primus performing a series of shows featuring an iconic Rush album from our youth. Being that A Farewell To Kings was the first Rush record I ever heard, and that it contains my all-time favorite Rush tune, 'Cygnus X1', the choice narrowed quickly. Years ago I had done something similar with Colonel Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, when we covered Pink Floyd's Animals in its entirety. It was an insane amount of work, but ended up being one of the most enjoyable live endeavors I've ever done. Dubbing the tour Primus: A Tribute To Kings, it was originally scheduled to be performed in the Fall of 2019 but, when we were asked to support Slayer on their Final Campaign, the 'Tribute To Kings' tour was postponed.

"Geddy, Alex and Neil had been superheroes to Larry, Herb and I in our teens, 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.

"The 'Tribute To Kings' tour will be just as it is implied, a respectful and loving tribute to three spectacular musicians, songwriters, legends and friends."

(Photo - Chapman Baehler)