Les Claypool w/ DeVotchKa

Les Claypool’s lightning-fast slap-bass work endeared him to metalheads and alternative-rock kids of the ’90s before a new generation of tie-dyed youths discovered him on the jam circuit, where his technical prowess and acid-induced lyrics quickly made him a star. His goofy lyrics, however, belie some surprisingly lofty themes, dark tales about drug abuse, politics and conformity disguised as inconsequential ditties about animals and fishermen. This odd bill pairs Claypool with DeVotchKa and Saul Williams. DeVotchKa, a chirpy Colorado band that merges the spastic desperation of late-’70s Talking Heads with the orchestral sweep of Arcade Fire’s more grandiose work, and a kitchen sink that includes sousaphone, an accordion, a piano, a violin, a bouzouki, an upright bass and a Theremin. Williams, meanwhile, is the spoken-word poet who with Trent Reznor recorded The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, a tuneless and furious song cycle bound to make tonight’s predominantly white audience very, very uncomfortable.