Tool’s Danny Carey Collaborates with Primus and Covers King Crimson with Umphrey’s McGee at Tool Live in the Sand
Photo Credit: Andrew Scott Blackstein
Over the weekend, Tool brought a litany of high-profile alternative metal outfits to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for Tool Live in the Sand, the band’s highly-anticipated inaugural destination event. While the getaway hardly went off without a hitch, with some reported attendees criticizing the similarity between the headliners’ two sets, the program was not without its highlights, including special guest contributions from Tool drummer Danny Carey in performances from Umphrey’s McGee and the newly reconstructed Primus.
On Saturday, March 8, Primus stepped into the spotlight at the Hard Rock Hotel & Royalton Resort for the penultimate show of the festival’s second day. This stand was a landmark moment for the funk metal pathbreakers as their first performance with new drummer John Hoffman, who emerged from a pool of 6,200 applicants and the rigorous Primus Interstellar Drum Derby to secure the seat long held by Tim “Herb” Alexander.
To embark on this new chapter, the band looked to its past by inviting longtime collaborator Carey to add percussion to opening entries “Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweakers,” “Too Many Puppies” and “American Life.” Hoffman joined the band onstage to a roar from the audience and played alongside Carey for powerful double-kit treatments of “Here Come the Bastards” and “Harold of the Rocks.” Hoffman kept the energy up as the sole drummer on “Groundhog’s Day,” “Duchess and the Proverbial Mind Spread” and “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” before Carey sauntered back onstage for a ripping four-piece finale of “My Name Is Mud.”
On Sunday, Umphrey’s McGee stepped up to add its eclectic, heavy jam-fusion sound to the mix of styles in the destination fest. The sextet set off its show with the two-decade classic “Plunger,” then veered into the shreddy Wayne’s World reference “Crucial Taunt” and power-prog of “The Floor.” After blazing through setlist staple “1348,” Umphrey’s welcomed Carey to swap in for drummer Kris for a well-traveled cover of King Crimson’s “Red,” then returned to the core band for a finale of “Wizard Burial Ground.”
Umphrey’s McGee will be back in the spotlight tomorrow to continue the Cruising Altitude Tour with a performance at Bozeman, Mont.’s The ELM. After the run, Umphey’s will embark on a concert getaway of their own with the first-ever Morrockshow in Marrakesh, Morocco on April 18 and 20. For tickets and more information on Umphrey’s McGee’s 2025 tour itinerary, visit umphreys.com/tour/.
Primus will set out on their next tour in the spring, with 28 stops planned across the country from April 24 to June 7. Learn more at primusville.com.
