Clutch live!

Clutch
Metro, Chicago
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Clutch have been called a lot of things in their 15-plus years together, including hardcore, hard rock, alt-rock, nu-metal, and stoner metal. Truth is though, all those labels are more the result of industry and label types trying to squeeze Clutch into changing musical tastes than they are Clutch’s own changing. Sure, the group have experimented more with classic rock and blues during their last few records, but Clutch 2008 ain’t all that different than Clutch 1998.

So it wasn’t surprising there weren’t any big surprises at Clutch’s Metro gig. A few small surprises maybe, like the unexplained absence of organist Mick Schauer and guitarist’s Tim Sult’s chopped-off locks. Beyond that, it was Clutch, man. The group frontloaded their set with some of the best tunes from two of the last three records, opening with “Mercury” and “Profits Of Doom” (the first two songs on 2004’s Blast Tyrant) then stuck the oldies “Eight Times Over Miss October” and “The Elephant Riders” in before touching back down in this decade with “You Can’t Stop Progress,” “Power Player,” and “The Devil & Me” (the first three songs on last year’s From Beale Street To Oblivion). “Eight Times Over” was Clutch’s first indulgence in jamming for the night as Sult and frontman Neil Fallon (who maybe picked up the guitar more on this night because of Schauer’s absence) hooked up for some six-string harmonizing and drummer Jean-Paul Gaster even snuck in a short solo. A man of many bizarre words in song (“never trust the white man driving the black van” he sang in “Profits Of Doom”), Fallon was a man of few words onstage, often fleeing to the shadows for extended instrumental portions of songs like “Child Of The City,” emerging to unleash his booming voice for a verse or chorus.

Clutch don’t keep you guessing during their set, probably a good thing if you were to ask most their fans. Just sit back and rejoice in the meaty riffs, Fallon’s endearing oddness, and the fact that, in the day and age of image-driven sales, these four guys looked like they rolled out of their bunks five minutes prior to show time. They do keep you guessing on opening acts, though. As a band who has toured with everyone from Slayer to The Tossers, Clutch like to mix it up and have done so again on this tour by inviting Murder By Death, Hex Machine, and Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster. Though probably all odd men out when compared to one another, Murder By Death were the only band who couldn’t use “being heavy” as a crutch. Nick Cave comparisons are probably second only to Elliott Smith in rock critics’ pantheons, but it was an obvious – and good – one hearing the quartet played their gothic Americana, including a few cuts from their solid new record, Red Of Tooth And Claw (Vagrant). The exact opposite of MBD’s subtle spookiness, Hex Machine were a loud, riffy, loud, fuzzy, loud blast of sludgy metal. Did we mention loud? Loud enough to have the poor Miller beer vendor unfortunate enough to be located directly to the side of the stage grimacing by the third song as she franticly inserted ear plugs. That song also featured a saxophone cameo by Yakuza frontman Bruce Lamont and proved to be the group’s peak – by three-fourths of the way through their set it felt like they’d been onstage two hours already. Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster are an intriguing addition to the lineup, mostly because until this point the band aligned themselves with either the trendy metalcore crowd or the do-good Christian scene (vocalist Dallas Taylor used to front Christian metal act Underoath). Clutch’s crusty, bearded, beer-swilling crowd is surely a different scene for the group, but despite some initial hostility (a few prominent middle fingers and some launched liquids during “Memories Of The Grove”) from the audience, Maylene were the night’s most energetic opening act. This was largely due to the fact the band (who replaced three members prior to the tour!) concentrated largely on the excellent Southern boogie metal of second record, II (Ferret). Jesus and metal can be like strawberries and hot sauce, but Taylor and co. didn’t push any agenda other than rockin’ the fuck out – a religion we can all dig.

– Trevor Fisher

Category: Live Reviews, Weekly