Primus

Les Claypool, frontman and bassist of the longstanding funk-rock power trio Primus, is just like everyone: He, too, had a first concert experience, and for him, that was Canadian prog-rock powerhouse Rush. The year was 1978.

“My very first concert was Rush at The Cow Palace. I drank three Löwenbräus and threw up in the parking lot,” he said. “I was 14 years old.”

Yes, long before he formed Primus, Oysterhead (his supergroup with Trey Anastasio, guitarist and singer of Phish, and Stewart Copeland, the percussive genius of The Police), The Claypool Lennon Delirium (psychedelic rock with Sean Lennon) and any number of other combos Claypool has been a part of, he was but another face in the crowd during a Rush show, part of its tour promoting its 1978 studio album “Hemispheres.”

“As a youth, I was definitely a huge Rush fan,” Claypool said. “I had just started playing bass at that time, so of course at that time, it was pretty much the greatest night of my life.”

Unlike the vast majority of fans attending first concerts, Claypool would one day find himself touring with the aforementioned band after forming Primus in 1984.

“We toured with those guys a few times in the early ’90s and became very good friends. It was definitely surreal,” he said. “Geddy (Lee), Alex (Lifeson) and Neil (Peart) used to joke that we were one of the only bands that opened for them that didn’t get the chilly Rush fan reception.”

Now, Claypool, guitarist Larry LaLonde and drummer Tim Alexander are bringing Rush to their fans via Primus’ A Tribute to Kings Tour to Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend on Wednesday, during which they’ll play Rush’s 1977 album “A Farewell to Kings” in its entirety.

“We’d always joked that we’re going to go out and play ‘Hemispheres’ in its entirety,” Claypool said. “And it was kind of like, ‘Oh, we should go do that,’ and it was just kind of a joke. Then we thought, ‘Well, maybe we SHOULD do that.’ We started thinking about the records.”

More specifically: They started thinking about which record they might play live in its entirety.

“‘2112’ was a little too cliché,” he said, referring to the band’s 1976 record. “‘Hemispheres’ you know … I just remember as a 14-year-old sitting there watching the Rocinante (spaceship) flying through the blackhole of Cygnus X-1 on the big screen as those guys were playing, and it was just like this huge wet-dream moment for me.”

“Cygnus X-1: Book I: The Voyage” is the trippy 10-minute-plus sci-fi epic capping 1977’s “A Farewell to Kings,” and Claypool has described it elsewhere as his favorite Rush song.

(Don’t be confused by the fact that its 18-minute counterpart, “Cygnus X-1: Book II: Hemispheres” opens up “Hemispheres.” In 2017, marking the 40th anniversary of “A Farewell to Kings,” the two songs — about the Rocinante spaceship, its journey toward the black hole of Cygnus X-1 and what the songs’ explorer encounters there — were released as a limited-edition single.)

“Cygnus X-1: Book I” being on “A Farewell to Kings” appealed to him. Also on the record is the classic rock staple “Closer to the Heart.”

“Plus it was the first Rush album I’d ever heard, and it just seemed like a good balance,” Claypool said. “They hadn’t gotten too much into the keyboards yet, and it seemed like one we could pull off. I’m not very proficient at the keyboards, and I have to play those parts.”

The “Tribute to Kings” tour was supposed to happen two years ago, but Primus postponed in order to support Slayer on the metal gods’ “The Final Campaign” farewell tour in the fall of 2019.

“And so it got put off, and then, of course, COVID put it off again for the following summer,” Claypool said. Staying home last year was “surreal, bizarre,” he said. “I bought an old excavator and just started clearing fire roads around my property to prepare for California matchstick weather. Just kind of escaped as much as I could.”

If you’re more about Primus than Rush, fear not: Material from throughout Primus’ career will be interspersed throughout the band’s set. And of course, Claypool will sound like himself. He’s more than a little self-deprecating about reaching the high notes Lee is famous for.

“Well, I’m singing Geddy Lee’s parts like Les Claypool would play Geddy Lee’s parts,” he said. “I’m in a little lower stratosphere, pitch-wise.”

What: Primus “A Tribute to Kings” tour, with special guest Battles

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday, doors open 4:30 p.m.

Where: Les Schwab Amphitheater, 344 SW Shevlin Hixon Drive, Bend

Cost: $50.50 plus fees. Available in person at the Ticket Mill in the Old Mill District or online at bendconcerts.com

Contact: bendconcerts.com or 541-312-8510