Primus have announced a summer tour where they'll cover Rush's 1977 studio album A Farewell to Kings in full. The shows will also see the Les Claypool-led group play a regular set of Primus songs before busting out the Rush classic in concert. See the dates down toward the bottom of this post.

The trek holds a special relevance for Claypool, as the bassist and singer told Rolling Stone on Tuesday (Feb. 18). A Farewell to Kings was the first Rush record Claypool ever heard, and it contains his all-time favorite tune by the band, "Cygnus X1." The tribute tour was scheduled before Rush drummer Neil Peart died last month at the age of 67. Indeed, it was held off while Primus supported part of Slayer's farewell tour last year.

"We were going to do it last fall and then this whole Slayer thing came up," Claypool explained. "We had been talking about doing something with Slayer on and off over the years, and then the opportunity to do the final-final [tour in 2019] and send these guys off was a pretty cool thing, so we postponed the Kings tour."

Elsewhere in the interview, he added, "We're trying to be as sensitive as we possibly can, so it doesn't appear like we're just jumping on the, 'Hey, a superhero has died; let's go out and do a tribute to him' type thing."

The tour kicks off in May and runs for 40 dates through August, including a stop at this summer's Bonnaroo Festival. Tickets will be available to the general public beginning this Friday, Feb. 21, at 10AM local time.

Primus "A Tribute to Kings" Summer 2020 North American Tour Dates

May 26 – Irving, Texas @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory *^
May 27 – Houston, Texas @ Revention Music Center *^
May 29 – Austin, Texas @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater *^
May 30 – New Orleans, La. @ Saenger Theater *^
June 1 – Asheville, N.C. @ ExploreAsheville.com Arena *^
June 3 – Orlando, Fla. @ Hard Rock Live Orlando *^
June 5 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Coca-Cola Roxy *^
June 6 – Charlotte, N.C. @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre *^
June 7 – Raleigh, N.C. @ Red Hat Amphitheater *^
June 9 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ PNC Pavilion *^
June 10 – Columbus, Ohio @ Express Live! *^
June 12 – Manchester, Tenn. @ Bonnaroo Arts and Music Festival
June 15 – Richmond, Va. @ Virginia Credit Union LIVE! *^
June 16 – Baltimore, Md. @ MECU Pavilion *^
June 17 – New York, N.Y. @ Beacon Theatre *^
June 19 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Met Philadelphia *^
June 20 – Asbury Park, N.J. @ The Stone Pony Summer Stage *^
June 21 – Essex Junction, Vt. @ Champlain Valley Exposition *^
June 23 – Boston, Mass. @ Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion *^
June 24 – Wallingford, Ct. @ Toyota Oakdale Theatre *^
June 26 – Sterling Heights, Mich. @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre *^
June 27 – Cleveland, Ohio @ Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica *^
June 28 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Stage AE – Outdoor *^
June 30 – Toronto, Ontario @ RBC Echo Beach *^
July 2 – Lafayette, N.Y. @ Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards *
July 3 – Westbrook, Maine @ Main Savings Pavilion at Rock Row
July 6 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ White River State Park Amphitheater *+
July 7 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ BMO Harris Pavilion *+
July 8 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ The Armory *+
July 10 – Chicago, Ill. @ The Chicago Theatre *+
July 11 – St Louis, Mo. @ Saint Louis Music Park *+
July 12 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Crossroads KC *+
July 14 – Denver, Colo. @ The Mission Ballroom *+
July 15 – Salt Lake City, Utah. @ The Complex *+
July 17 – Berkeley, Calif. @ Greek Theater *+
July 18 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Greek Theatre *+
July 19 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ Pearl Concert Theater *+
July 21 – Boise, Idaho @ Idaho Botanical Garden *+
July 23 – Bonner, Mt. @ KettleHouse Amphitheater *+
July 24 – Redmond, Wash. @ Marymoor Park *+
July 25 – Troutdale, Ore. @ Edgefield *+
July 28 – Spokane, Wash. @ Riverfront Park Amphitheater *+”
July 29 – Bend, Ore. @ Les Schwab Amphitheater *+
July 31 – Paso Robles, Calif. @ Vina Robles Amphitheatre *+
Aug. 1 – San Diego, Calif. @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre *+
Aug. 2 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Arizona Federal Theatre *+

* w/ Wolfmother
^ w/ The Sword
+ w/ Battles

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