What exactly IS Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade? It’s definitely not Primus, but it’s not NOT Primus either. The dominance of Les’s vocals and bass playing makes every project inextricably linked. What you essentially are signing up for is Les Claypool and Captain Shiner joined by his merry band of safari hunters on the back line playing whatever they feel like. His unparalleled bass stylings and penchant for jam bands and psychedelia made for an odd soup of concertgoers sporting band tees from the likes of Clutch, Mastodon, and Amon Amarth, to Pink Floyd, Phish, Ween, and, of course, Primus.

Stopping in at The Lyric Theater on the campus of The University of Baltimore, we were treated with the only tour date supported by the band W.I.T.C.H., also known as We Intend To Cause Havoc. This truly hidden gem of a band have been around for quite some time. However, being part of the “Zamrock” scene of psychedelic garage rock from Zambia, they are not an especially well-known act in the States. With an exuberant, joke-cracking frontman sporting a heavy accent and a hard rock ensemble complete with electric organ and occasional bongo beats, they were not just a surprisingly engaging and enjoyable act. They were also simply one of the best compliments to the more psychedelic-laden side of a Les Claypool performance.

As the stage set up for Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade began to take shape, a horse mask ominously hung atop a mic stand to the side of the stage staring down at the crowd. As the heavy blue lights engulfed the space, the band launched into “Thela Hun Ginjeet,” a classic King Crimson track that displays how strong of an influence the band had on Claypool’s musical sensibilities. They followed up with their original track, “David Makalaster,” off of the band’s only original studio release Purple Onion. Several songs in, the beginning self-harmonizing bass sounds of Primus’ “Southbound Pachyderm” was clearly recognizable before getting cut short and dashing my hopes of hearing one of my favorites. This would prove to be the only disappointment of the night for me. But alas, we were there to see Colonel Claypool, not Primus.

And then suddenly, in the middle of everything, they played the entirety of Pink Floyd’s 1977 conceptual album Animals.

While filling out the rest of the set with a few more songs that each lasted longer than some punk albums, Les Claypool would be seen returning to the electric upright bass, this time adorned in his infamous pig mask. For the last jam of the night, dual high-powered beams of light slammed into the theater’s upper balcony while caressing the top of the Colonel’s disco ball helmet, creating cascades of confetti-shaped reflections scattering across the stage and audience.

After the performance, Les crumpled up the setlist and threw it into the audience for one lucky fan to recover, a set list which included original artwork presumably by Les Claypool.

Les Claypool

W.I.T.C.H.