Tag Archives: neil fallon

Clutch – Live at the 9:30 Club (DVD)

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2010 Weathermaker Music

(note:  I wrote this right after the release of this DVD last year, but noticed that I saved it as a draft and never posted it.  Sorry…)

Being the total Clutch homer that I am, I pre-ordered my copy of this…just so I could get my own 2-foot long Clutch logo sticker which I now proudly display in my studio:) Clutch is the band that turns me into a 15-year-old again…when nothing mattered but music.

If you buy into the Clutch thang, you’ll undoubtedly be happy with this. First, you have the live show which clocks in at around 90 minutes. Clutch is a machine live…and you never know what the set list will be from show to show. Unlike so many corporate bands (Def Leppard comes to mind in a big way), Clutch doesn’t forsake their early material when it comes to their live shows.

In fact they celebrate it…and it’s testimony to their songwriting that early songs like “A Shogun Named Marcus,” “The House that Peterbilt,” and “Escape from the Prison Planet” sound even better today in a live setting with Clutch’s modern deep-fried groove and resident vocabularian Neil Fallon’s more melodic vocal stylings.

The latter song is on this DVD in full-force as our fave Maryland boys play their self-titled 1995 disc in its entirety in this live set. 1995’s Clutch album is a bit of an underground classic, but I never truly appreciated the songs until I heard them live. Truth is, I always felt the production on that album was way too thin…but man do these songs just burn live and it’s such a kick to hear a rabid crowd singing along to “Escape…,” “Spacegrass,” and my two faves “Rock and Roll Outlaw” and “I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth.”

I could go on and on…and most of my friends are probably tired of me talking about Clutch. Lol   Just a wonderful band and a wonderful live document here.

The second CD is a 100+ minute documentary following Clutch on the road with both band and fan interviews. Loads of fun with a band that’s unbelievably humble considering how good they are. Listening to Jean-Paul “The Master” Gaster talk about drums is mesmerizing. A lot of thought goes into the sounds both he and the entire band make.

This is a band that cares.

We all should.

Rating:   5 out of 5

Clutch – The Dragonfly (live video)

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There’s just something about this song that does it for me.  Studio version on The Elephant Riders CD is good, but live this song just smokes.  Tim Sult’s guitar intro is just too cool, then the band kicks in.  Enjoy…and check out the lyrics while you do.   Just brilliant!


 

Lyrics to The Dragonfly:

Could’ve been a swan on a glassy lake.
Could’ve been a gull in a clipper’s wake.
Could’ve been a ladybug on a windchime,
but she was born a dragonfly.

In the sun she warmed her wings
and listened to the cicadas sing.

“The trees are all bending
in one direction
because of something…”

Cross-pollination by the legs of bees in the spring
is a beautiful thing.
Oh when the sun goes down,
the fireflies come out.

In a pond crept a slimy thing
that hummed a theme from the Rites of Spring.

Pity the mate of Queen Mantis,
so content, but so headless.
Katydid nothing but shiver and cry,
as did the dragonfly.

In the shade the gypsies spin
Among the cloves, they drop their skin.

“…beyond the hedgegrove,
over by the willows,
deep in the shadows…”

Regeneration occurs at a furious speed
beneath the white oak tree.
Oh when the sun comes up
the moon buds fold up.

In the sun she warmed her wings
and listened to the Rites of Spring

Could’ve been a swan on a glassy lake.
Could’ve been a gull in a clipper’s wake.
Could’ve been a ladybug on a windchime,
but she was born a dragonfly.

Clutch – Pure Rock Fury

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  2001 Atlantic Records

Even though Clutch has been quite a fine band since their inception in the early 90’s, it was with 2001’s Pure Rock Fury that they really hit their stride and found their own unique voice.

I remember the first time I listened to this disc and how thoroughly blown away I was…and still am.  From the opening jam of American Sleep to the live closer Supergrass, the band has you in their…um…clutches and they just don’t let go.  The production is crisp and powerful as Neil Fallon and company serve up riff after riff, hook after hook and lick after lick mixed perfectly with razor sharp, butt-shaking grooves and a liberal dose Fallon’s own unique, intelligent and humorous wordplay.  Throw in some hot southern fried chicken grease and you’ve got yourself a meal.

Quite frankly, if I were an alien from another planet just arriving on earth and someone played me this CD (or ANY Clutch CD really), I’d say “I want more of THAT!”

If you’ve never heard this disc and you like groovin’, classic, heavy and melodic jam, prepare to become a Clutch fan.  For as great as this CD is, unbelievably it only gets better after this with Blast Tyrant, Robot Hive/Exodus, and From Beale Street To Oblivion, establishing Clutch as, in my humble opinion, the greatest American rock band of the 21st century so far.  Never before have I heard a band combine everything I’ve always loved about heavy rock with an undeniable intelligence that is sadly missing with a lot of bands.   Never, that is, until now.

Turn it up loud and get lost in the sound!

Rating:  4.5 out of 5