Les Claypool Alters Minds in Atlanta

"It's good to be back in the Atlanta area, and it's good to be at a new event," Les Claypool told the crowd on Day One of the inaugural 3-day music and arts festival, the Echo Project. "I'm an advocate of new events -- especially ones where they tolerate people like me and where they tolerate people like you."

Performing with his "Fancy Trio" (featuring Skerik and Mike Dillon), Claypool busted out tunes from his Primus repertoire ('Tommy the Cat') and, of course, his solo canon ('Dee's Diner').

Claypool verbalized his appreciation for fellow festival performers the Polyphonic Spree, and a "blinky light thing" in the audience, speculating that he'd really, really enjoy it on an event like New Year's Eve where he tends "to be a little altered in the mind." Many in the crowd weren't waiting for an event like New Year's Eve.