9:30 Club
Washington DC
December 28th, 2009
Let it be known that I have probably seen Clutch no less than a dozen times dating back to 1996 when I first saw them headline an incredible bill that included Fu Manchu
Never Got Caught
Prior to this show, I was unfamiliar with this Beantown power-trio which includes Bryan Hinkley on vocals and guitar, Bill Hinkley on drums and Paul Dallaire on bass. I had no idea what to expect, particularly when the fellas took the stage in spiffy suits and nice hats looking more like a bunch of 1930’s era gangstas ready for a bank robbery than a rock band. Once they started playing however, it was all about that heavy, heavy groove.
It was easy to see (or hear rather) how Never Got Caught got on this tour as their musical style gives a rather obvious nod to Clutch (and it just so happens that Clutch vocalist Neil Fallon lends guest vocals to one of the songs on their latest album, “Creepshow
Never Got Caught proved to be an excellent opening act for the evening and got the proceedings off on the right foot. When the band finished playing one particular song, Hinkley immediately leaned into his mic with arms stretched out, palms up and simply said (with a heavy Boston accent) “Eh?...Eh?”…translation: “pretty damn good, right?” The answer was a resounding yes, and by the sound of the crowd, most everyone in attendance agreed with me.
Lionize
Local (Silver Spring, MD) stoner/reggae fusion act Lionize
Doomriders
As I watched the next band set up their equipment, I was extremely skeptical as to whether or not they could meet the high expectations associated with having a name as utterly cool as Doomriders
Doomriders consists of Nate Newton (who also plays bass in hardcore band Converge
It was obvious that the band was having a blast onstage, tearing through songs off their latest album “Darkness Come Alive
Clutch
One of the best things about going to a Clutch show is that you never know exactly what you’ll hear. They’re liable to play anything off of their nine studio albums (and three EPs/compilations) on any given night. That’s why when I heard that this tour would feature a full performance of their self-titled masterpiece, I was actually somewhat disappointed. Now don’t get me wrong, I tend to agree with the majority of Clutch fans, that the self-titled release is in fact their high water mark. But, they have so much great music in their repertoire, that it seems a shame to focus two-thirds of a set list on one album. But the whole “play an older album in its entirety” strategy seems to be the flavor of the moment for a lot of bands recently (see The Cult, Megadeth, et al), so I guess I’m not all that surprised.
Having said all of that, the stoner rock godfathers, hailing from Germantown, Maryland, took the stage and launched right into “50,000 Unstoppable Watts” off of their incredible new album, “Strange Cousins from the West
After rolling through over half of their latest album, the band settled into the “in its entirety” performance of their self-titled opus. Again, having heard all of these songs multiple times live, I have to admit that I wasn’t astonished to have the experience of listening to them in the order that they appear on the album. However, given that I had consumed my fair share of frothy beverages by this point in the evening and the band was playing what amounts to my favorite album (of theirs), I found myself shouting right along with Fallon (and the rest of the crowd) by the time he sang “we got Greedo…Solo to the rear” off of “Big News II”.
If you’re at all familiar with Clutch, then you know what ensued over the next hour or so as they worked their way through the album. From the powerful swagger of “Rock n Roll Outlaw” to the requisite crowd sing-along during “Spacegrass” (”Dodge Swinger, 1973, top down, chassis free…Buzz Aldrin, Armstrong, or maybe just me…Don’t worry, its coming…Don’t worry its coming…Jesus on the dashboard!”) to the intense, yet zany hardcore of “Animal Farm”, Clutch was on top of their game tonight, as always.
By the time they reached the chilled out, laid back album closer, the instrumental “Tim Sult vs The Greys”, it’s a wonder the band, or their audience, had anything left in the tank. But after a short break, the boys returned to the stage for an encore that included two more tracks from the new album in addition to an energetic version of “Regulator” and then the finale…“Gravel Road” off of my second favorite Clutch record, “Robot Hive/Exodus
If you’ve never seen a Clutch show (and you’re at all interested in rock music), then you owe it to yourself to do so. They are truly one of the most talented acts you’re likely to see, undoubtedly due to their incredible work ethic…these guys tour like no other band around. To use their own words, Clutch are “veterans of the trade” and they continue to prove it every single time I see them…tonight was no different.
Set List
50,000 Unstoppable Watts
Struck Down
Minotaur
Let a Poor Man Be
Algo Ha Cambiado
Abraham Lincoln
Big News I
Big News II
Rock n Roll Outlaw
Texan Book of the Dead
Escape From the Prison Planet
Spacegrass
I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth
Tight Like That
Animal Farm
Droid
The House that Peterbilt
7 Jam
Tim Sult vs The Greys
Encore
Freakonomics
Motherless Child
Regulator
Gravel Road
This review was submiited by contributing writer "Inspired". You can check out his blog "The Year Long Music Binge" for more cool reviews. All I got to say is you lucky son of a gun.
Awesome review
ReplyDeleteCheck out a new video from down south
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbYHtLDlTPA
this show was awesome ! All the bands put on incredible sets. Never Got Caught was sick!
ReplyDeleteI am soooo jeolous! Makes me so wish I lived on the east coast. Awesome write up!
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