Written by: Geoff Tischman

Supporting their new album Monolith Of Phobos, the Claypool Lennon Delirium brought their psychedelic carnival to New York’s Capitol Theater the other night and it was quite a show.

Sean Lennon told Rolling Stone that his bandmate Les Claypool is “the Tim Burton of alternative music” while Claypool told the magazine Lennon “…has this amazing voice…He adds elements of beauty to the barnacle-covered hull that is my world.”

Both men are deeply talented and wildly idiosyncratic and their sonic union is one of the year’s best surprises. Claypool is a virtuoso that brings to mind the inventiveness of Frank Zappa or Captain Beefheart, while Lennon’s pop sensibility coupled with his penchant for oddball narrative subjects make him the perfect foil for the Primus frontman.

Numbers like “Oxycontin Girl” and “Bubbles Burst” were instant crowd pleasers while “Cosmic Highway” was pure psych bliss.

Easily one of the best shows of the year.

The band played:

1. There’s No Underwear in Space
2. Cricket & the Genie (Movement I, The Delirium)
3. Cricket & the Genie (Movement II : Oratorio Di Cricket)
4. Breath of a Salesman
5. The Monolith of Phobos
6. Cosmic Highway
7. Bubbles Burst
8. Mr. Wright
9. Boomerang Baby
10. Animals
11. Oxycontin Girl
12. Astronomy Domine