Article Contributed by jbleicher.com
Published on 2026-04-15
Colonel Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade will release Return Of The Live Frogs: Volume 1 on May 22nd, a new live collection capturing the band’s long-awaited return and ever-evolving onstage chemistry. Featuring four extended performances - each stretching between seven and twelve minutes - the release offers a raw, immersive snapshot of a group that has always thrived in the moment, where structure gives way to exploration and no two performances land quite the same way twice. Pre-order HERE.
The tracklist includes “Up On the Roof,” “Phantom Patriot,” “D’s Diner,” and “Cosmic Highway,” each reimagined through the band’s loose, improvisational lens. Built on deep grooves, shifting arrangements, and the interplay between a cast of longtime collaborators, the recordings highlight what has made the Frog Brigade such a cult favorite for more than two decades: a sense that anything can happen at any time, and often does.
Originally formed by Claypool in 2000 as a creative outlet during a transitional period for Primus, the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade quickly became one of his most beloved and freewheeling projects - a place where new material, deep cuts, and left-field covers could coexist alongside extended improvisation and genre-hopping experimentation. Early tours, marquee festival appearances, and the release of Live Frogs Set 1 & 2 and the studio album Purple Onion helped establish the band as a singular live force, bridging the gap between the jam, prog, and alt-rock worlds
After more than 20 years away from full-scale touring, the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade returned to the stage with a lineup that once again includes longtime members Skerik (horns) and Mike Dillon (percussion), alongside Sean Ono Lennon (guitar), Harry Waters (keys), and Paulo Baldi (drums). That lineup remains central to the band’s current incarnation, bringing together players with deep history and an instinctive feel for the project’s open-ended approach.
Return Of The Live Frogs: Volume 1 arrives just as Claypool and Lennon prepare to hit the road for the Claypool Gold Tour, a full-evening run that brings together three distinct projects - Primus, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and the Fearless Flying Frog Brigade - into one fluid, genre-spanning live experience. Each night, the Frog Brigade set offers a different window into Claypool’s catalog and creative world, with a focus on extended arrangements, improvisation, and the kind of musical risk-taking that has always defined the project.
The tour begins May 20th and runs coast-to-coast through early July, giving audiences a rare chance to see Claypool and Lennon move between multiple bands and approaches in a single evening, from the tightly constructed narratives of the Delirium to the wide-open terrain of the Frog Brigade.
With Return Of The Live Frogs: Volume 1, that spirit is captured in its purest form: a band in motion, playing without a net, and leaning fully into the unpredictability that has always been at the heart of the Frog Brigade.
Return Of The Live Frogs: Volume 1 x Tracklist
1. Up On the Roof
2. Phantom Patriot
3. D’s Diner
4. Cosmic Highway
Claypool Gold 2026 Tour
Wednesday, May 20 – Reno Events Center – Reno, NV
Friday, May 22 – Hayden Homes Amphitheater – Bend, OR
Saturday, May 23 – Marymoor Live – Redmond, WA
Monday, May 25 – KettleHouse Amphitheater – Bonner, MT
Tuesday, May 26 – The Lot at the Complex – Salt Lake City, UT
Thursday, May 28 – Starlight Amphitheatre – Kansas City, MO
Saturday, May 30 – The Factory – St. Louis, MO
Sunday, May 31 – Meadow Brook Amphitheatre – Rochester Hills, MI
Tuesday, June 2 – Jacobs Pavilion – Cleveland, OH
Wednesday, June 3 – Salt Shed – Chicago, IL
Friday, June 5 – The Caverns Outdoor Amphitheater – Pelham, TN
Saturday, June 6 – KEMBA Live! Outdoor – Columbus, OH
Tuesday, June 9 – Thompson’s Point – Portland, ME
Wednesday, June 10 – Leader Bank Pavilion – Boston, MA
Friday, June 12 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, NY
Saturday, June 13 – Stone Pony Summerstage – Asbury Park, NJ
Sunday, June 14 – All Good Now Festival – Columbia, MD
Tuesday, June 16 – The AMP Ballantyne – Charlotte, NC
Wednesday, June 17 – Firefly Distillery – North Charleston, SC
Friday, June 19 – St. Augustine Amphitheatre – St. Augustine, FL
Saturday, June 20 – Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park – Atlanta, GA
Monday, June 22 – Walmart AMP – Rogers, AR
Tuesday, June 23 – ACL Live at Moody Theatre – Austin, TX
Thursday, June 25 – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory – Irving, TX
Saturday, June 27 – Dillon Amphitheater – Dillon, CO
Sunday, June 28 – Dillon Amphitheater – Dillon, CO
Tuesday, June 30 – Arizona Financial Theatre – Phoenix, AZ
Wednesday, July 1 – Gallagher Square – San Diego, CA
Friday, July 3 – Long Beach Amphitheater – Long Beach, CA
Saturday, July 4 – Meritage Resort & Spa – Napa, CA
