Clutch - 9/24 @ Center Stage
There are three things that come to mind if Clutch ever comes up:
1) Matt - Matt, of course, is Clutch fan #1. I think he's seen them every time they've been to Atlanta with one possible exception. So if I happen to think about Clutch, Matt inevitably comes to mind.
2) Dragon*Con - And one time, years ago, I went with Matt and his friend Gabe to see Clutch play at a Dragon*Con. The only problem was that I didn't have a ticket to either the concert or to D*C in general. Yet somehow I was able to walk into the show and convention with no one questioning me or asking for any proper credentials. It was the day I realized how much of a geek I appeared to the outside world, if I could easily skate in just because everyone assumed I belonged there.
3) Ace of Cakes - After watching many, many episodes of this Food Network program, I found out that the crazy receptionist is the sister to the lead singer of Clutch and the band was also featured on one of the shows...which made me wonder if Matt knew about it.
Then not too long ago, I head that Clutch was coming to Center Stage and they were bringing The Sword on tour with them. Sounded like it was going to be a good show, but I had no plans to go see it, even though I would've like to have seen The Sword again. Then at the last minute, I got a call from Matt that he had an extra ticket to the show and wondered if I'd like to join him. Absolutely. Met him over at Criminal Records and then we carpooled it over to the show. Wasn't sure if I was going to run into anyone, as Matt always jokingly refers to the small handful of devout fans who actually show up to see Clutch, but did see Rotknee and Rene. So guess they're also in the club. Then we walked into the main room to find a spot to check out the show.
We timed it well, because we got there just before The Sword hit the stage. The room was full, but wasn't packed by any means. And we were able to find some pretty good seats which gave a good vantage point for the show. The Sword were as awesome as always. They sounded massive and relentless, and like a goldfish, their sound grew to fill the much bigger room of Center Stage. Granted, I still prefer them in a club like the Earl, but at least I got a chance to see them perform again. They had a few technical glitches, as the lead guitarist seemed to be having some problems, but he got it worked out fairly quickly and everything was back to normal. I'm sure they missed not playing at the Earl at that point too, because you know Curt would've rushed down from the sound booth and fixed it all for them. Not quite the same treatment at Center Stage apparently, as the band was left to their own devices. But even with the minor difficulties, they put on a great set. The band was also selling a CD of a side project called Pirates Of Darkwater, which is some heavy, instrumental Metal stuff. Not too shabby and totally worth the $5 they were charging for it.
Then it was time for the main event, Clutch. Having only seen them the one time years ago and not owning anything by them, I wasn't too sure what to expect other than it was going to be heavy and very likely loud. And they were both and more. It's not easy to classify Clutch's sound. Yes there's Metal, yes there's Hardcore, yes there's some Stoner Rock too, but there's also some stuff that you might not expect like Funk. It's a complex sound. And they also put on a very good show. And a loud one at that, because I was regretting forgetting my earplugs the next day. We stayed for pretty much most of the show or at least until Matt heard all the songs he wanted to hear and then we rolled out. I wasn't going to complain about leaving early as I saw The Sword, which was the band I really wanted to see and I did enjoy what I saw of Clutch. But since I'm not a super fan like Matt, I didn't mind skipping out before it was over. If he was cool with it, so was I.
But if I had stuck around til the end and got a chance to meet the band after the show, I'm sure I would've asked them about Ace of Cakes. And thus confirming my geek status to yet even more people.
1) Matt - Matt, of course, is Clutch fan #1. I think he's seen them every time they've been to Atlanta with one possible exception. So if I happen to think about Clutch, Matt inevitably comes to mind.
2) Dragon*Con - And one time, years ago, I went with Matt and his friend Gabe to see Clutch play at a Dragon*Con. The only problem was that I didn't have a ticket to either the concert or to D*C in general. Yet somehow I was able to walk into the show and convention with no one questioning me or asking for any proper credentials. It was the day I realized how much of a geek I appeared to the outside world, if I could easily skate in just because everyone assumed I belonged there.
3) Ace of Cakes - After watching many, many episodes of this Food Network program, I found out that the crazy receptionist is the sister to the lead singer of Clutch and the band was also featured on one of the shows...which made me wonder if Matt knew about it.
Then not too long ago, I head that Clutch was coming to Center Stage and they were bringing The Sword on tour with them. Sounded like it was going to be a good show, but I had no plans to go see it, even though I would've like to have seen The Sword again. Then at the last minute, I got a call from Matt that he had an extra ticket to the show and wondered if I'd like to join him. Absolutely. Met him over at Criminal Records and then we carpooled it over to the show. Wasn't sure if I was going to run into anyone, as Matt always jokingly refers to the small handful of devout fans who actually show up to see Clutch, but did see Rotknee and Rene. So guess they're also in the club. Then we walked into the main room to find a spot to check out the show.
We timed it well, because we got there just before The Sword hit the stage. The room was full, but wasn't packed by any means. And we were able to find some pretty good seats which gave a good vantage point for the show. The Sword were as awesome as always. They sounded massive and relentless, and like a goldfish, their sound grew to fill the much bigger room of Center Stage. Granted, I still prefer them in a club like the Earl, but at least I got a chance to see them perform again. They had a few technical glitches, as the lead guitarist seemed to be having some problems, but he got it worked out fairly quickly and everything was back to normal. I'm sure they missed not playing at the Earl at that point too, because you know Curt would've rushed down from the sound booth and fixed it all for them. Not quite the same treatment at Center Stage apparently, as the band was left to their own devices. But even with the minor difficulties, they put on a great set. The band was also selling a CD of a side project called Pirates Of Darkwater, which is some heavy, instrumental Metal stuff. Not too shabby and totally worth the $5 they were charging for it.
Then it was time for the main event, Clutch. Having only seen them the one time years ago and not owning anything by them, I wasn't too sure what to expect other than it was going to be heavy and very likely loud. And they were both and more. It's not easy to classify Clutch's sound. Yes there's Metal, yes there's Hardcore, yes there's some Stoner Rock too, but there's also some stuff that you might not expect like Funk. It's a complex sound. And they also put on a very good show. And a loud one at that, because I was regretting forgetting my earplugs the next day. We stayed for pretty much most of the show or at least until Matt heard all the songs he wanted to hear and then we rolled out. I wasn't going to complain about leaving early as I saw The Sword, which was the band I really wanted to see and I did enjoy what I saw of Clutch. But since I'm not a super fan like Matt, I didn't mind skipping out before it was over. If he was cool with it, so was I.
But if I had stuck around til the end and got a chance to meet the band after the show, I'm sure I would've asked them about Ace of Cakes. And thus confirming my geek status to yet even more people.