Live Review : Clutch @ the Buckhead Theater

This was my first time to this venue since it's renovation. The inside is now carpeted and the lounge bar area is pretty plush, which also made for an odd pairing for the denim clad beard rockers in attendance this evening. The first band Kyng, a power trio from California had already taken the stage, Their drummer was really good and the guitarist who handled the bulk of the vocals had a decent set of pipes on him. They seemed to win the crowd over, though I noticed the songs they announced that were from their new album coming out this week were better than the older material in terms of melodies that hook you in.

Up next was Zakk Sabbath. This is of course Zakk Wylde playing Black Sabbath covers with the drummer from Queens of the Stoneage and the bassist from Rob Zombie's band, who has also played with Ozzy. To not be a member of any incarnation of Sabbath, Wylde is qualified to cover these songs since he has played the bulk of them while touring with Ozzy.  They opened with "Children of the Grave" and then tackled the crowd pleasing "War Pigs". The only draw back was the extended solos Wylde took that seemed pretty excessive since they were not adding anything to the songs. Wylde is a great guitarist, but this was a little much even when he went out to solo from the back of the crowd by the sound board. They also play impressive versions of "Fairies Wear Boots" and "Into the Void". Wylde's Ozzy impersonation was a little nasal, but they were into it and won over the crowd, though there was a tone of Black Label Society shirts in support.

Clutch came on with little fanfare and got down to business. The newer songs didn't dominate the front end of the set. At one point they started to go into a song and Fallon wasn't feeling it so he stopped them then said carrying on and busted into another song. It was when they played "Escape From the Prison Planet" that the pit exploded and the crowd really locked in with them. This energy kept going with Fallon running the stage like a snake handling preacher, until they dropped it down and he picked up a guitar for "Our Lady of Electric Light". He is a better guitarist than I figured him to be, but sometimes juggling this with singing left him, backing off of certain passages that the sings more robustly on the albums.

When he put the guitar down and rallied to fire the crowd back up with some of my favorite songs from "Blast Tyrants". I might not be the most impartial party when I say that "Profits of Doom" was the best song of the night since It is my favorite , but to my ears it was. At this point in time the weird mix of the crow was more evident as hippie dancing was just as abundant as moshing and the two often crossed over into the pit. So this was not the typical rocker crowd that dominated the floor when Zakk Sabbath played, but a mix of hipsters, festival hippies, and red necks sprinkled in for good measure since we are still in Atlanta. Half of the crowd reeked of pot. The set came to a powerful climax with "Unto the Breach" and "Earth Rocker" which placed the emphasis more on the bands power. The drummer made every thing look easy, while the bass player and guitarist, pretty much laid back and did their job, leaving Fallon to work the stage, which he did rather naturally.

I left before the encore , which is a shame since it was two of my favorites from their last album, but it was 11:15 and I had a 30 minute walk home, but I left satisfied and my feeling about the band still high, so they delivered, which after paying 35 bucks for a ticket, says a lot considering I rarely allow myself to pay for a show at this point, unless like Clutch it's a band I have been looking forward to seeing. Make sure to catch them even if you have half an interest in the band and they will more than likely win you over.


Burning beard

Decapitation Blues

You Can't Stop Progress

The House that Peterbilt

Escape From the Prison Planet

Texan book of the Dead

Pure Rock Fury

Our Lady of Electric Light

Behold the Colossus

the Elephant Riders

You Love in Incarceration

The Mob Goes Wild

Profits of Doom

Unto the Breach

Earth Rocker

encore

X-ray Visions

Firebirds!

Kyng : "Breathe In the Water"

These guys are an interesting mix of thrash attack set against catchy melodic sections that are not unlike those of say Red Fang. Eddie Veliz's vocals are the high light as he takes a Chris Cornell approach, though no where as Robert Plantish in his upper range. In some way the are more like a pumped up metal version of Bad Company.  In terms of song writing these guys are strongest on a song like the title that takes more melodic nuances and sets them against the burlier riffs in a more Queens of the Stoneage manner. The verses to "Closer to the End" give the vocals more room to do there thing without being encumbered by a busy riff.

"Follow Blindly" has not shortage of energy, but's melodies don't hook me in with the same strength as the previous songs. This is more of a power ballad, but is effective in setting the stage for the songs dynamics, and allow Veliz to show some different colors to his voice. "the Dead" doesn't really win me over until it gets away from the verse and progresses in the songs bridge. The melodies are stronger on "Bi-polar Schemes". Lyrical this is one of the strongest, as who ever wrote has obviously experience dating some one afflicted with this. There is a smoother more sinewy riff to "Hide From You" another song where the vocals are allowed to shine.

Slights hint of southern rock hide at the corners of "Song For a Broken Masque" which is a little too mainstream rock for my personal taste though it is well done. "the Battle of the Saint" is more of a jam, though it eventually locks into a hooky melody. There is a lighter tone to "Not Enough" that is like the Foo Fighters venturing out to a more progressive strain of rock. They end with the heavier rock of "What I'm Made of ". There is a very mid- nineties post-grunge flavor to what these guys do. I don't hear them as being a stoner rock band though they are being marketed that way, they come across a little more metal live. I'll give this one an 8.5. as it starts a little stronger than it finishes. The singer claimed when I saw them live that this album will change your life, I guess that depends on how little you have going on.