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12/29/2013 Clutch, Into Another (Rochester, NY @ Montage Music Hall)

By Eric | December 30, 2013 11:00 am

[Lionize was on the bill, didn’t see them.]

Clutch was always one of those bands that I knew existed, knew were pretty good, and probably should have gotten into but never did (ala Helmet). Considering they’ve been around for 20 years, just put out what many consider to be the best album of their career in Earth Rocker, and were playing tiny Montage, I figured I oughta go.

Into Another was the opener. I hadn’t heard of them prior to this, they’re apparently a post-hardcore / alternative band that were together from 1990-1996 and then got back together in 2012. They were good, sufficed as openers, but I wasn’t terribly into them.

Now Clutch on the other hand… I almost saw them back in 2001, when I saw Boy Hits Car open for them, but that was the 2nd of two shows that day, and we left before Clutch came on. Regardless, I was excited to see them this time around. I’d spun Earth Rocker online a couple of times, along with a couple other tunes, so I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to see (although I wouldn’t consider myself familiar with them at all), but I still was not prepared for the show I got. Lead singer Neil Fallon appears as if he’s pontificating from the stage with all the mannerisms and voice inflection of a televangelist. Talk about stage presence! Beyond that, the rest of the band was super-tight, and packing 400 people into the Montage, most all singing along and rocking out was a sight to behold. I ended up hanging out with an old friend, Rich (he of Hatebreed moshpit glasses fame!), who’s a big Clutch fan. I commented to him that it was a lot of fun for me to go to a show where I’m not hyper-analyzing it, fretting over what is and isn’t getting played; rather I can just enjoy the show for what it is, and enjoy other people going bonkers over their favorite band. Ah, so that’s what I look like! We got nearly an hour and a half set, the crowd ate up every second of it, and the band seemed to be feeding off that energy all night as well. Quote of the night, from lead singer Neil Fallon, after someone in the crowd had yelled to “play something heavy”, Fallon simply responded “F%$# YOU!”, and then the band proceeded to play something heavy! (You had to be there.)

Inexplicably, there has been no footage from this show put up on YouTube SOMEONE TAPED THE SHOW!! (there were phones/cameras rolling all night), so you get the one picture Rich snapped, as I didn’t bother to take any.
2013-12-29 Clutch

Clutch Setlist:
Earth Rocker
Mr. Freedom
50,000 Unstoppable Watts
The Face
Book, Saddle, and Go
Cyborg Bette
The Mob Goes Wild
Cypress Grove
The Regulator
Crucial Velocity
Unto the Breach
Struck Down
Gone Cold
Oh, Isabella
The Wolf Man Kindly Requests…
Electric Worry / One Eye Dollar

Came across a good review with some great pictures at Upstate Metal.

Topics: Concerts | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “12/29/2013 Clutch, Into Another (Rochester, NY @ Montage Music Hall)”

  1. Rich DeTommaso Says:
    January 3rd, 2014 at 11:34 am

    Rich DeTommaso liked this on Facebook.

  2. Jason Novello Says:
    January 3rd, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    i’d love to see Clutch. They play booze cruises out of NYC/NJ area occasionally. nobody comes to maui šŸ™

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