Clutch
was in town on Monday night and I had yet to see them live, so I took my
brother and we headed over to the Westcott Theater in Syracuse, NY. This is another repurposed old theater (much
like the Palace Theater from my review of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd show. The main difference between t he two venues
is that this theater has no seats and is less “classy”. It feels perfect for a metal show! There was room for the obligatory mosh pit
and plenty of overpriced alcoholic beverages for everyone over the age of
twenty-one. It’s a great local venue and
really right up my alley as I have been searching for a venue that replicates
the experience of Sayerville, New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom since I moved back
up her to central New York six years ago.
Okay,
on to the show itself. I will touch
briefly on the three (three!) opening bands before I talk about Clutch. First, though, just from looking around the
room, it looked like a ZZ Top cosplay convention. Just about everyone there had a beard, most
of the big and bushy variety. It was odd
seeing that many people sporting a similar look all gathered together in one
place. When you look at the four bands
that were playing though, you can almost understand why.
This is what I think happened. It’s just speculation at this point, but I’m
pretty sure this is how we got here.
Brandon
and I arrived a little late, so we only got to hear the very end of Scorpion
Child. We should have arrived later and
missed out on them completely, they were bad.
The musicians were fine, but the vocalist was trying to be Robert Plant with
a voice like Geddy Lee on his worst day.
The antics and the dress (brown leather vest for the win!) were ridiculous
as well. At one point before their last
song (or during, I couldn’t bother to keep track) he went over to a big, gallon
water jug, took a drink, then proceeded to spray what I can only assume is a
breath freshener into his mouth.
Why? I have no idea, nor do I
really care. They left (after tearing
down their own instruments, obviously the roadie budget for this tour is very
slim) and were replaced by Lionize.
At
first glance, you would not assume Lionize would be that great. They are the second band of four, they set up
all of their own equipment, and following a pretty crappy band like Scorpion
Child, my expectations were at an all-time low.
I was wrong. Holy shit was I
wrong. They were great! Think of a bluesy Black Crowes sound but heavier,
with some crazy bass-work in there (the bassist was nuts). The overall sound was very groove-oriented
and went over incredibly well with the crowd (only Clutch got a louder ovation
in my estimation). In my opinion,
Lionize didn’t play long enough. I would
have thoroughly enjoyed another half hour of their music as the straight-up
opener for Clutch.
Alas
it was not to be, as there was one more band between me and the band I came to
see. Orange Goblin, from the UK
apparently. I have heard them compared
to Black Sabbath, but I think they are a little closer to Motorhead, with a
little Pantera thrown in for good measure.
They were good, not great. I will
say they are great though because their lead singer is an eight foot tall
behemoth.
This is him.
You may now commence having shitloads of nightmares
for weeks to come.
However, Brandon made a valid point, he kind of
looks like Sweetums from the Muppets.
What do you think?
Still scary?
I’m not nearly as into
the really heavy, mosh pit inducing music as I used to be, and it says a lot
that the best track I heard all night was when they actually slowed it down a
bit and played something that was a bit mellower. I will say that the musicianship in this band
was great as well. The guitar player was
fast and precise while the bass player was good as well. The drummer looked like he was exerting no
effort at all, which is not a knock against him, all of his motions were fluid
and deliberate, nothing extra to get in the way of the music itself. This is good, because anything extra was
provided by the lead singer (who at first glance looks like he just came from
the casting couch at a Rob Zombie movie) who had charisma to spare. This was Orange Goblin’s first trip to
Syracuse, and if the warm reception was any indication, they will be back.
After
an extended break, where the stage (fully set up and ready to go) sat in
darkness for a good 15-20 minutes, Clutch took the stage. Right out of the gate they had the audience
on their side. I was skeptical coming
into the show because I have one of their live albums (Full Fathom Five) as well as a DVD of a short set of their songs,
and I wasn’t incredibly impressed with either.
I know better than to judge a band based on its concert album when I can
see them in person though. Between old
and new favorites, the band had people singing along and dancing to the music. This was most apparent on their song “Cypress
Grove” which singer Neil Fallon dedicated to “all the ladies”. The entire venue was singing, dancing and
moving as one and it was quite the sight to see. The band itself was not very mobile on the
stage itself, but they made up for that with their ability to play the shit out
of their instruments. Neil Fallon made
up for the fact that the rest of the band didn’t move though. He was all over the stage, looking a little
bit like what I would assume Dave Matthews would look like if he let himself
go. This is not a knock against Fallon
at all; in fact it’s quite remarkable that that huge voice comes out of him,
especially after seeing someone with a large voice but also huge frame mere
minutes before. Neil Fallon has one of
the most unique voices in all of music, not just rock music and being able to
see him perform live and not miss a beat was a pleasure.
There were a few songs
that I wish I had heard live (“DC Sound Attack” from the Earth Rocker album “Willie
Nelson” from Slow Hole to China and
“Subtle Hustle” from Blast Tyrant)
but I can’t really complain about the songs that they did include. There were many times throughout the
performance where it made me forget that it was nearly midnight on a Monday and
I had to get up for work the following morning, or the fact that I am getting
way too old to go to a show where I have to stand for five hours straight, and
that’s what good music is supposed to do, right? It’s supposed to transport you to a different
mindset, make you forget about your troubles and trials for a couple
hours. Well, Clutch did that in spades. It was a great show from top to bottom (if
you take out Scorpion Child and give a little more time to Lionize and Clutch
it would have been better) and I will definitely be seeing them again.
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