Backstage Music Magazine Backstage Music Magazine March 2017 Issue 2 | Page 26

Pure Rock Fury with Clutch

Written and Photos by Travis Eisenhard

Clutch is a hard act to describe. Since 1991, Clutch has never settled into one genre in particular. When so many different varieties of musical sounds are represented, it makes a band like Clutch hard to put into words when you want to know what type of music they play. I always explain their sound as if southern rock were invented today, it would sound something like this. No matter how I describe them, they are rock-n-roll in the purest form.

I have been to many Clutch shows over the years and it has always been a pleasure. Every time I see them live, the show is better the next time and this was no

different. Frontman, Neil Fallon, brings so much energy to his performance that you could sell it for a million bucks given a way to bottle it. Lead guitarist, Tim Sult, has the tastiest improv licks, Dan Maines (bassist) plays the sweetest grooves, and Jean-Paul Gaster (drummer) plays the best drums I have ever heard live. I could praise the band

all day, but we should get into the actual show.

Clutch started their set strong with Cyborg Bette and never looked back. Out of the seventeen songs Clutch played, it was a majority of newer tunes with six being from their latest album, Psychic Warfare, and seven from the previous record, Earth Rocker.

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