Live Review : Primus + MonoNeon @ Synovus Bank Amphitheater Chastain Park, Atlanta GA - July 25th 2025

Chris Collett
2 days ago
2 min read

Updated: 3 minutes ago

Primus never does what you expect, and their stop at Synovus Bank Amphitheatre in Chastain Park on February 25, 2025 was no exception. This wasn’t a greatest hits show. It wasn’t even a show for the casual fan. It was something weirder, darker, and definitely more psychedelic. Something that felt more like a descent into the “Willy Wonka” tunnel scene than a typical night at an outdoor amphitheater.

From the moment the band took the stage, they were more shadow than substance. Backlit with strobes, haze, and pulsing visuals, Les Claypool and crew were rendered mostly as silhouettes for the entire night. There were no spotlight solos or “look at me” moments. Instead, Primus let the music and the visuals tell the story. And the story was strange.

Midway through the set, Les stepped out in a pig mask and his stand up bass, adding another layer of surrealism to a show already swimming in it. The audience never got a clear view of him. It was like he was intentionally keeping a distance, more a character in a fever dream than a rock frontman.

My standout visual moment came during “Jillys on Smack,” when the band played in front of a singing Christmas tree backdrop and the whole stage lit with twinkling red and green lights. It was weirdly festive, a twisted holiday hallucination in July that made total sense in the world of Primus. You could feel the crowd looking around like, “Is anyone else seeing this?”

The setlist dug deep into the Primus vault, leaning heavily on lesser-played tracks. Here’s how the night fell:

Setlist:

Groundhog's Day
Polka Dot Rose (Oysterhead cover)
Dirty Drowning Man
The Antipop (Tour debut)
American Life (with "The Star-Spangled Banner" intro)
Little Lord Fentanyl
Jillys on Smack
Over the Falls
Amos Moses (Jerry Reed cover)
Restin' Bones
Bob's Party Time Lounge
Welcome to This World
My Name Is Mud
Over the Electric Grapevine

Encore:

Wynona's Big Brown Beaver (Tour debut)

The encore brought a touch of familiarity with the tour debut of “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver,” but even that felt less like a crowd-pleaser and more like one final left turn. There were no singalongs, no big rock finale, just more strange brilliance from a band that never colors inside the lines.

The setlist avoided top 40 hits in favor of deep cuts and obscure gems, with standout moments like the buzzy “The Antipop” tour debut, the warped anthem “American Life,” and the creeping bayou stomp of “Amos Moses.”

Primus delivered a show that wasn’t easy, wasn’t clean, and wasn’t obvious. It was a full-on visual and sonic hallucination. Unapologetically weird and totally their own. If you came for the hits, you were probably confused. But if you came for the ride, it was unforgettable.

Experimental funk bassist MonoNeon opened the night with a short but wild set that primed the crowd for the strange trip ahead.

Primus official website: https://primusville.com

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