{"id":116468,"date":"2026-01-01T18:28:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/116468\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T18:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:28:24","slug":"primus-debuts-oysterhead-song-does-sabbath-for-nye-ball-drop-in-oakland-videos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/116468\/","title":{"rendered":"Primus Debuts Oysterhead Song, Does Sabbath For NYE Ball Drop In Oakland [Videos]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Primus rang in the New Year in Oakland, CA, where the band dipped into one of bassist Les Claypool\u2018s myriad other projects with an Oysterhead debut. The show at the\u00a0Fox Theater also featured a\u00a0Black Sabbath cover as the calendar flipped to 2026, assisted by opening metal macabre clown Puddles Pity Party for the\u00a0Send In The Clowns-themed run.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Wednesday\u2019s NYE extravaganza, Primus opened the two-night affair on Tuesday with a bust-out of Shreveport, LA, avant-garde collective\u00a0The Residents\u2018 \u201cHello Skinny\u201d. Primus hadn\u2019t played the song since January 2016 in Nashville, per\u00a0Setlist.fm<\/a>, long before Les and\u00a0Larry \u201cLer\u201d LaLonde employed fellow Shreveporter, drummer John Hoffman<\/a>, behind the kit in early 2025. Making up for all that time away, Primus performed \u201cHello Skinny\u201d again on Wednesday for the New Year\u2019s crowd.<\/p>\n

Following heavy-hitters \u201cToo Many Puppies\u201d and \u201cTo Defy the Laws of Tradition\u201d, balloons rained down from the rafters as Claypool wished everyone a Happy New Year before launching into\u00a0Geezer Butler\u2018s bass intro to \u201cN.I.B.\u201d If a cascade of balloons wasn\u2019t enough childlike pagentry, out came Puddles Pity Party to take lead vocals in tribute to the late\u00a0Ozzy Osbourne to close the main set.<\/p>\n

Primus, Puddles Pity Party \u2014 \u201cN.I.B.\u201d (Black Sabbath) \u2014 12\/31\/25
[Video: Fuzzy Dunlop<\/a>]<\/p>\n

After opening the encore with setlist staple \u201cDuchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread\u201d, Claypool looked to his supergroup with Phish guitarist\u00a0Trey Anastasio and Police drumming legend\u00a0Stewart Copeland, Oysterhead, for \u201cShadow of a Man\u201d. This marked Primus\u2019 first-ever performance of the song, which Claypool hadn\u2019t played publicly since Oysterhead\u2019s last concert to date at Atlanta\u2019s\u00a0SweetWater 420 Fest<\/a> in 2022<\/a>. Tuesday\u2019s show saw Oysterhead\u2019s \u201cPolka Dot Rose\u201d (a Primus setlist regular the past couple years) sandwiched amid \u201cGroundhog\u2019s Day\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related: Remembering Oysterhead\u2019s Incredible Debut [Listen]<\/a><\/p>\n

Rocketing through \u201cJilly\u2019s on Smack\u201d and \u201cWynona\u2019s Big Brown Beaver\u201d, the band left the stage, but the show still wasn\u2019t done. As applause continued raining down like the balloons did an hour earlier, Primus returned to the Fox Theater stage once more, Puddles again in tow, for Dio\u2018s \u201cHoly Diver\u201d, Puddles\u2019 tenor a perfect fit for the other former Black Sabbath singer. Finally, Les, Ler, and Hoffer closed out the marathon evening with \u201cSouthbound Pachyderm\u201d, walking off into 2026 to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory\u2018s \u201cPure Imagination\u201d playing over the PA.<\/p>\n

Check out some videos from Primus\u2019 2025\u20132026 New Year\u2019s Eve show in Oakland, and revisit Oysterhead\u2019s heyday with pro-shot footage of its full set from Bonnaroo 2006<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Primus \u2014 \u201cHello Skinny\u201d (The Residents) \u2014 12\/31\/25
[Video: Naems Polyci<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Primus \u2014 \u201cTo Defy The Laws Of Tradition\u201d \u2014 12\/31\/25 \u2014 Partial
[Video: Naems Polyci<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Setlist<\/a>: Primus | Fox Theater | Oakland, CA | 12\/31\/25<\/p>\n

Set One: The Antipop, Last Salmon Man, American Life, Little Lord Fentanyl, Restin\u2019 Bones, Bob\u2019s Party Time Lounge, Hamburger Train > Hello Skinny (The Residents) > Too Many Puppies, To Defy the Laws of Tradition, New Year\u2019s Countdown, N.I.B. (Black Sabbath) [1]
Encore: Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread, Shadow of a Man (Oysterhead) [2], Jilly\u2019s on Smack, Wynona\u2019s Big Brown Beaver
Encore Two: Holy Diver (Dio) [1], Southbound Pachyderm
Exit Music: Pure Imagination (Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley) [3]<\/p>\n

[1] w\/ Puddles Pity Party
[2] Live debut by Primus
[3] Played from tape<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Primus rang in the New Year in Oakland, CA, where the band dipped into one of bassist Les…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[61997,61998,61999,143,145,144,62000,62001,26982,62002,62003,62004,62005,62006,62007,62008,62009,62010,62011,62012,62013,62014,62015,62016,62017,62018,62019,62020,62021],"class_list":{"0":"post-116468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-black-sabbath","9":"tag-john-hoffman","10":"tag-larry-lalonde","11":"tag-oakland","12":"tag-oakland-headlines","13":"tag-oakland-news","14":"tag-oysterhead-polka-dot-rose","15":"tag-oysterhead-shadow-of-a-man","16":"tag-ozzy-osbourne","17":"tag-primus","18":"tag-primus-12-31-25","19":"tag-primus-black-sabbath","20":"tag-primus-drummer","21":"tag-primus-hello-skinny","22":"tag-primus-holy-diver","23":"tag-primus-new-years-2025","24":"tag-primus-new-years","25":"tag-primus-nib","26":"tag-primus-oysterhead","27":"tag-primus-ozzy","28":"tag-primus-polka-dot-rose","29":"tag-primus-puddles-pity-party","30":"tag-primus-puddles-pity-party-black-sabbath","31":"tag-primus-shadow-of-a-man","32":"tag-primus-the-residents","33":"tag-puddles-pity-party","34":"tag-shadow-of-a-man","35":"tag-stewart-copeland","36":"tag-trey-anastasio"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}