Last night I ventured out to the Music Box @ Fonda in Hollywood to see Les Claypool’s band and openers Two Gallants from San Francisco. Maybe you know Les Claypool from the opening theme of “South Park” (he’s the one playing bass guitar) or from the Primus song “John the Fisherman” on “Guitar Hero 2,” but for me it goes back a little further.

The first and only time I saw Les Claypool play prior to this was in 1993 when he headlined Lollapalooza as frontman for Primus. At the time I was in high school, and I remember being in awe of his bass-playing skills and his mystifyingly deep booming voice. I left that concert singing “My Name Is Mud,” and I think the phrase was stuck in my head all through college. In fact, it comes back to me every now and then long enough to annoy my close friends. So as the curtain was raised last night to the chants of “Claypool! Claypool!” I wondered what from this show would stick in my head for the next 15 years and maybe annoy my future wife and children.

Perhaps when I sing “My Name Is Mud” it’s annoying, but anything that comes out of Les Claypool’s mouth is just damn cool. Les exudes cool. The guy took the stage dressed in something out of “A Clockwork Orange”; he had the small black hat, a Pinocchio nose mask and a tuxedo. The two-hour set highlighted his mastery of the electric bass and the Whamola, a unique one-stringed bass instrument hit with a drum stick to make noise. I had never seen the Whamola before but I have heard it, so you probably have too — it’s the instrument used by Claypool in the “South Park” theme.

(Click here for photos.)

The Whamola isn’t the only non-mainstream instrument used in Claypool’s band — he was backed by a sitar and a marimba in addition to two drum sets and a saxophone. The sound was a mixture of Primus meets the jamming and drums space of the Grateful Dead.

Halfway through the show, Les left the stage and returned with a rubber pig mask on. He then took out a stand-up electric bass and started to whack it with a bow, causing the audience to go nuts. Les stopped the song and — while still wearing his pig mask — thanked one overly excited fan for being fired up, but then asked him to tone it down a little, because he apparently was bumping into a young girl who came out to the show with her father. The crowd cheered.

Claypool’s set featured many songs from his latest studio album, Of Whales and Woe, but it was his old stuff that had the crowd rocking. The house went mad when Claypool broke into Primus’ “Tommy the Cat” from 1991’s Sailing the Seas of Cheese, with everybody singing along to the lyrics “So baby, do you wanna lay down with me?”

Opening up for Claypool were Two Gallants. Unlike Claypool’s band, Two Gallants had a more traditional rock sound. Comprising singer/guitarist/harmonica player Adam Stephens and drummer Tyson Vogel, the duo delivered hard-rocking melodic songs that resonated with me for their moving lyrics and anthemic sound. The highlight of the set was their popular single “Steady Rollin’.” I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of this band in the future.