At The Roseland Theater, October 9th

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All Photos By Mike Lewis Photography

CLUTCH made their way to The Northwest, where they do incredible business. The show at The Roseland Theater on October 9th, 2018, took place on a Tuesday, and it looked light as people filed in to the all ages show. As it turns out the show was sold-out, however the last surge of CLUTCH fans didn’t begin to roll in until roughly 9 P.M.

Up first was TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN. I can’t tell you how enraged I get when I see a band that is desperately trying to replicate the 60s and 70s in a disingenuous manner. Clearly GRETA VAN FLEET falls under this as do RIVAL SONS. TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN are a cliche incarnate, they lifted everything in their act and music from THE YARDBIRDS, the STONES and ZEPPELIN. The most unfavorable part of their act was how TYLER BRYANT relentlessly tried song after song to get the crowd into it, using every ‘stale trick’ in the book, ad nauseum. Their performance was about as authentic as the artificial crowd noise that was getting pumped into the Georgia Dome during the 2016 football season.

Speaking of Georgia, up next was the Atlanta’s own SEVENDUST, who released their debut album 21 years ago. SEVENDUST’s intro music was “Whipping Post” by THE ALLMAN BROTHERS, but SEVENDUST is about as far removed from the Southern Rock icons as you can be, yet it works wonderfully as the changeover into to their set. SEVENDUST have a new album All I See Is War, which ironically is on Portland based Rise Records. The band performed two new cuts, “Dirty” and “Unforgiven” which went over relatively well, given they were in a ‘pro-CLUTCH’ environment. Unlike the previous band, SEVENDUST stepped on the stage and didn’t resort to pandering to the crowd and just did what they do. They put on a high energy, genuine, crushing set. The highlights of their set were “Denial”, “Waffle”, “Too Close To Hate”, “Bitch” and “Thank You”. I realized a few things in watching SEVENDUST’s set, they have a hell of a lot of hits. In addition to the killer, soulful pipes of Lajon Witherspoon, they have this ‘progressive’ element to their music that continues to make them stand head and shoulders above their contemporaries. Lastly, can SEVENDUST get some royalties from all the ‘bro country’ artists and bands stealing their look?

When you hear Chuck Brown’s “We Need Some Money” blasting through the PA, you know it’s a matter of minutes before CLUTCH infiltrate the stage. CLUTCH are out on the road supporting their new effort Book of Bad Decisions. Frontman Neil Fallon glided across the stage as the band kicked into “The Dragonfly”, with Fallon instantly going from mild mannered dude and flipping the switch into a trance of sorts. By the time CLUTCH launched into “El Jefe Speaks”, Fallon is practicing his Tai chi to the rhythm of the music, his incredible animated facial expressions are an added bonus. Fallon was bookended by guitarist Tim Sult [stage left] and bassist Dan Maines [stage right], where they have been for the past 25+ years. No, they don’t move much, only to glide the hands up and down their respective instruments and to strum them. Maybe they don’t need to, it’s not required. Let’s not forget one of the most underrated drummers in rock, Jean-Paul Gaster, who jackhammered away throughout the 17 song set. He’s such a joy to watch.

CLUTCH have been doing a lot of material off the new album, which has gone over brilliantly from what I could tell. I really liked hearing “In Walks Barbarella” off the new album. Other highlights included “The Mob Goes Wild”, “The Regulator”, “Earth Rocker”, “D.C. Sound Attack!”, and the encores “Electric Worry” and “X-Ray Visions”. This CLUTCH show wasn’t my favorite performance from them, and it might have been that SEVENDUST, having played in the sweet spot, stole some of their thunder, or perhaps it’s because the set heavily showcased the new album, which I’m still digesting as I write this. In the end, a ‘good’ CLUTCH show is still better than 90% of the bands out there right now.

Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Mike Lewis Photography