PRIMUS Announces Extension Of 'A Tribute To Kings' Tour, Paying Tribute To RUSH

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 U.S., 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 p.m. local time today (Tuesday, December 14). Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday, December 17 at 10 a.m. local time. For ticketing and show info, visit www.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, go to this location.

PRIMUS "A Tribute To Kings" 2022 tour dates:

April 15 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Criterion *
April 16 - San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theatre *
April 19 - Springfield, MO - Gillioz Theatre *
April 20 - Kansas City, MO - Grinders KC *^
April 22 - Cedar Rapids, IA - McGrath Amphitheatre *^
April 23 - Madison, WI - The Sylvee *
April 25 - Knoxville, TN - Tennessee Theatre*
April 27 - New Orleans, LA - Saenger Theatre *^
April 30 - Huntsville, AL - Mars Music Hall, Von Braun Center *
May 03 - Miami Beach, FL - The Fillmore *
May 04 - St. Petersburg, FL - Mahaffey Theater, Duke Energy Center for the Arts *
May 06 - North Charleston, SC - North Charleston Performing Arts Center *
May 07 - Saint Augustine, FL - The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre *
May 09 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium *
May 10 - Fort Wayne, IN - The Clyde Theatre *
May 13 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall +
May 14 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall +
May 16 - Montreal, QC - L'Olympia +
May 17 - Quebec, QC - Videotron Centre +
May 18 - Albany, NY - Palace Theatre *
May 20 - Port Chester, NY - The Capitol Theatre *
May 21 - Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theater *
May 22 - Huntington, NY - The Paramount *
May 24 - Washington, D.C. - Warner Theatre *
May 25 - Bethlehem, PA - The Wind Creek Event Center *
May 27 - Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa *
May 28 - LaFayette, NY - Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards *
May 30 - Louisville, KY - Old Forester's Paristown Hall *
May 31 - Grand Rapids, MI - GLC Live at 20 Monroe *
June 02 - Milwaukee, WI - BMO Harris Pavilion *^
June 03 - Saint Paul, MN - Palace Theatre *
June 04 - Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts +
June 06 - Regina, SK - Conexus Arts Centre - Capital Auto Theatre +
June 07 - Saskatoon, SK - TCU Place - Sid Buckwold Theatre +
June 09 - Calgary, AB - Grey Eagle Event Centre, Grey Eagle Resort & Casino +
June 10 - Edmonton, AB - Edmonton Expo Centre +
June 12 - Vancouver, BC - The Orpheum +
June 14 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield ~
June 15 - Redding, CA - Redding Civic Auditorium ~
June 17 - Sacramento, CA - Sacramento Memorial Auditorium ~
June 18 - Reno, NV - Grand Theatre, Grand Sierra Resort and Casino ~
June 19 - San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic ~
June 21 - Santa Barbara, CA - Arlington Theatre ~
June 23 - Riverside, CA - Riverside Municipal Auditorium ~
June 24 - Long Beach, CA - Terrace Theater, Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center ~
June 25 - Las Vegas, NV - The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas ~^

* with BATTLES
+ with BLACK MOUNTAIN
~ with THE BLACK ANGELS
^ Tickets are currently on sale for these performances

Photo credit: Randy Johnson