Primus’s Les Claypool cleared things up for us.

Primus and MonoNeon each brought decades of innovation and virtuosity to the Onward & Upward Summer Tour 2025, headlined by Primus with MonoNeon as the opener at Raleigh’s Red Hat Amphitheater on July 23, 2025. Primus, formed in San Francisco in the late 1980s, includes Les Claypool (bass, vocals), Larry “Ler” LaLonde (guitar), and their new drummer John Hoffman, who hails from Shreveport, Louisiana and earned his place after winning Primus’s open audition series “Interstellar Drum Derby” against over 6,100 applicants. Their discography includes Frizzle Fry(1990), Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991), Pork Soda (1993), Tales from the Punchbowl (1995), Brown Album (1997), Antipop (1999), Green Naugahyde (2011), The Desaturating Seven (2017), and the Conspiranoid EP (2022), released under ATO Records. Their official website is primusville.com. MonoNeon, born Dywane Thomas Jr. in Memphis, is known for his freak-funk style, affiliation with Prince’s final band, and solo albums such as A Weird vs. Everybody, I’m a Weirdo, and Chameleonic Funk. His official website is mononeon.com.

Primus titled the tour Onward & Upward to reflect a renewed direction and spirit brought by Hoffman’s addition to the lineup. The tour covered 24 dates across the United States, opening July 5 in Paso Robles, CA, and traveling through major cities such as Salt Lake City, Morrison (CO), Chicago, New York City, Raleigh, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles, with the finale set as a two-night run in Sacramento on August 7–8. MonoNeon joined the lineup from July 22 through August 2. Each band delivered a performance rooted in deep musicianship, seasoned stagecraft, and fresh creative energy.

MonoNeo and band

At Red Hat Amphitheater, MonoNeon opened with a vibrant and unpredictable set. Wearing one of his signature asymmetrical, brightly colored suits, he delivered a bass-forward performance using his Fender MonoNeon Jazz Bass V Model #0149400386. The lighting matched his surreal aesthetic with shifting palettes and movement tailored to his syncopated funk rhythms. Fans responded with high energy, dancing and shouting through the set, fully engaged. His sound was run by his longtime front-of-house engineer, keeping the mix tight and funky. Primus followed with a set that showed off their veteran precision and wild compositional inventiveness. Lighting and staging were handled by BrightLight Productions in collaboration with StageCraft Collective, delivering immersive visuals on synchronized LED backdrops. Sound for Primus was run by their engineer Dave “Rattle” Martin, balancing Claypool’s tone, LaLonde’s jagged guitar layers, and Hoffman’s heavy, agile drumming. Primus fans were ecstatic, flooding the merch tables for limited-edition vinyl, art prints, and tour shirts. Both artists support music education initiatives—Primus through Claypool’s affiliations and MonoNeon through Memphis-based youth programs. A behind-the-scenes highlight included a jam during soundcheck where the two acts riffed together, teasing ideas that may surface in future collaborations. The night was a celebration of genre-bending artistry and raw performance power.

Primus

MonoNeo