Story: Slade Rand
Photos: Jon Angel
Oct. 17, 2023
Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade stormed into Denver on Sunday for its second show this year at the Mission Ballroom.
The band returned to the Mission reloaded for two full sets including Pink Floyd’s “Animals,” this time also with Skerik re-enlisted on saxophone.
The Brigade delivered a combination of original tunes “David Makalaster” and “Buzzards of Green Hill” to begin its October occupation of the Mission. Dark blue and red lights silhouetted band members against an imposing stars and stripes backdrop.
The Claypool-crafted supergroup means business.
Toward the end of an adventurous take on “David Makalaster,” percussionist Mike Dillon took a creative xylophone solo that had Claypool dancing with his back to the audience. Claypool’s bass became fuller and swampier through the 10+ minute opening number, blending in and out of Skerik’s own deeper tones.
“How are you two getting along?,” Col. Les Claypool asked Sean Lennon to his right and Skerik to his left after the opening pair of songs. Lennon laughed and invited Skerik to come closer and sit on his amp stage right.
The Brigade members, including Dillon on percussion, Harry Waters on keys and Paulo Baldi on drums alongside Lennon on guitar and Skerik on sax, tell jokes between songs and dance during each other’s solos. Claypool took time to trade licks with everyone onstage during the hour-long first set.
Claypool gave a nod early on to the city he’s especially frequented the past two years.
“Denver’s always the best audience,” Claypool said before introducing the next track as one of his favorites to perform thus far on tour.
The Brigade then launched into the Beat’s 1980 single “Mirror in the Bathroom.” In Claypool’s veteran hands, the English ska-dance track evolved into a sprawling percussion-heavy groove.
The tune, written as commentary on narcissism and isolation in society, fit right in the keystone slot of the Frog Brigade’s opening frame.
This fourth stop on the Brigade’s The Hunt For Green October Fall Tour came with a “Lily Pad” floor section at the front of the stage reserved for fans wearing the band’s frog hats or other costumes. Many obliged. Most of the die-hard crowd hung onto every note played and each Pink Floyd melody teased, excitement building for the incoming performance of 1977’s “Animals.”
Brigade members left the stage one by one as Baldi wrapped Set 1 with a drum solo that remained echoing as he finally ducked offstage. “Let’s All Go to the Lobby,” rang through the PA and the crowd readied itself for Pink Floyd’s “Animals.”
Lennon strummed a mounted acoustic guitar soon after, and the Frog Brigade-favorite recreation began.
It’s music that demonstrably means a lot to Claypool and his band, and likely a little bit more to Waters on keys. Playing the music his father created, Waters contributed bluesy keyboard solos and elevated songs.
Skerik sat out the five-song tribute, allowing the Brigade to essentially stay within the lines of the well-decorated album. Claypool led some louder bass solos that broke the original “Animals” mold, but the performance for the most part stuck to Pink Floyd’s cues.
Lennon at times skillfully leaned into a talk box, recreating the machine-like effect used on the original album.
“Pigs on the Wing, Part 1,” “Dogs,” “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” Sheep” and lastly “Pigs on the Wing, Part 2” descended on the Mission, enthusiastically checking each box you’d use to judge such an iconic tribute.
“You know that I care/What happens to you/And I know that you care/For me too,” Claypool sang, seemingly directly to Lennon, as the Pink Floyd nod came to a close.
He exited stage left, re-emerging a minute later behind his recognizable pig mask. The on-theme version of 1996’s “Precipitation,” transitioned the Brigade out of the Floyd album and back into another tour of Claypool’s repertoire broken up by banter.
The Frog Brigade rolls on to St. Louis, Missouri tonight before an East Coast tour that ends with a Halloween stand in Nashville. Tickets are available through the band’s site here.
“And any fool knows a dog needs a home… A shelter from pigs on the wing”
After Midnight 
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