Following their electrifying run on the Sessanta tour alongside A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, Primus will return this summer with the Onward & Upward Tour—an expansive, coast-to-coast trek that marks an exciting new chapter for the band. The tour not only brings the trio’s signature blend of musical innovation back to stages nationwide, but also introduces fans to drummer John Hoffman, whose recent addition to the lineup brings a renewed sense of energy, experimentation, and groove to the legendary outfit.

Kicking off July 5th in Paso Robles, CA, the Onward & Upward Tour will hit 24 cities across the U.S., making stops at iconic venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, The Salt  Shed in Chicago, The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York, and The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, before culminating in a celebratory two-night stand at Channel 24 in Sacramento on August 7th and 8th. Along the way, Primus will be joined by a pair of equally bold and idiosyncratic artists—Ty Segall and MonoNeon—who will appear on select dates throughout the tour.

The Onward & Upward tour borrows its name from the ever-mutating DNA of Primus itself—a band that’s never been content to sit still or play it straight. That spirit of constant evolution is now hurtling forward with the addition of drummer John Hoffman, whose arrival marks a bold new chapter for the trio. Selected from more than 6,200 global applicants during the band’s wide-open audition process, Hoffman’s deep pocket, wild musical mind, and immediate chemistry with Les Claypool and Larry LaLonde made him the clear choice.

Les Claypool shared the following statement about the tour and the band’s newest member:

“Hitting the road this summer with Hoffer at the helm! This fiery, cheerful, octopus-like drummer from Shreveport, Louisiana has breathed a very potent breath of freshness into this band we all call PRIMUS.  

While splitting the drum duties of his first gig with the mighty Danny Carey down in the Dominican Republic, John “Hoffer” Hoffman has launched himself into the PRIMUS world with all guns-a-blazin’.  

Fresh from their next jaunt around the states with Sessanta Part 2 this Spring, Hoffer, Ler, and The Ol’ Colonel will be playing some full length PRIMUS sets at choice venues across the US, dipping into material (mainly at the request of Hoffer) that have not been performed in a many years.    

Come see why this amazing fellow was able to rise above over 6100 applicants to win the Interstellar Drum Derby and become the latest, and possibly the greatest, drummer to sit on the PRIMUS drum throne.

ONWARD AND UPWARD!!”

The search for a new drummer was recently chronicled in the band’s newly launched YouTube series, Interstellar Drum Derby, which gives fans an inside look at the journey that led to Hoffman’s selection. With his first full tour on the horizon, Onward & Upward promises to deliver the next wave of Primus’ creative vision.

Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean turned 16 after Woodstock but before Varg started burning down Norwegian churches. And yet, until just two short years ago, McBean had lived his entire adolescence and adult life without a proper driver’s license, that first and most coveted ticket to personal independence. Black Mountain’s new album, Destroyer, is imbued with all that wild-ass freedom and newfound agency (and anxiety and fear) that comes with one’s first time behind the wheel.

Destroyer, named after the discontinued single-run 1985 Dodge Destroyer muscle car, is structured around the feeling of driving a hot rod. The album exists in the middle of the early-to-mid 80s Los Angeles war between punk and hair metal – it’s exhilarating, spirited, and dangerous. Throughout, youthful themes run rampant: “Boogie Lover” cruises down the Sunset Strip, “Horns Arising” is a fill-up at a desert gas station just in time to see a UFO hovering near a mesa, and “High Rise” rounds out a sense of teenage discovery.

To create Destroyer, McBean shacked himself up in his rehearsal space and invited over friends from the endless rock’n’roll highway, bringing to life 22 songs. While some were laid back into shallow graves to dig up once again at a later date, the others were left above ground and polished and given life, some transformed by longtime band member Jeremy Schmidt. This generation of Black Mountain also sees new members Rachel Fannan (Sleepy Sun) and Adam Bulgasem (Dommengang & Soft Kill) as well as familiar collaborators Kliph Scurlock (Flaming Lips), Kid Millions (Oneida) and John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans).  Collectively, there’s a renewed vitality to Black Mountain on Destroyer — a seasoned, veteran of heady hard rock that’s found new, young muscles to flex and roads to explore.