Charlie Pinhey
Music journalist & online sub-editor for CLUNK Magazine based in Bristol. Fumbling around on social media trying to tell people about my interviews and reviews. Follow me @charvawritesstuff
Clutch bring their own brand of fuel-injected stoner-rock to the Bristol Beacon.
“He gets it,” said Clutch frontman Neil Fallon to a member of the crowd down front who, so far, had sung every word back to the band. This was around the time the band had flown through ‘Slaughter Beach’, from 2022’s ‘Sunrise on Slaughter Beach’. “I’ve got a bit of a head cold”, Fallon continued, “we will not be covering Bohemian Rhapsody for you tonight” Only on the final syllable of “tonight” did Fallon’s voice show any sign of wavering, due to being slightly under the weather. If the rest of the crowd heard the slight flutter in Fallon’s voice they didn’t let on, continuing to hurl throaty song requests at the band and shout “Fallon, you are the king of rock!”
Clutch‘s show at Bristol Beacon was the living embodiment of high-octane, made even more memorable as the set took place on a drab Monday evening. Fallon moved about the stage conducting the crowd and illustrating stoner-rock worlds with delicate swooshes of his arms; his movements understated but purposeful. Watching him for the first time live was like watching a post-apocalyptic pastor speak his fuel-injected truth.
Meanwhile the band behind him, consisting of Tim Sult, Dan Maines and Jean-Paul Gaster, remained similarly understated, but the most effective machines are the ones you don’t realise are working. Amidst the gruff lows and searing high notes of Fallon’s voice, Tim Sult was meticulously picking, seemingly doing the job of several guitar players at once, ensuring those thick low stoner notes filled the room, then sliding through a bluesy solo on ‘X-Ray Visions’ only seconds later.
“Me and you are gonna hang out later.” Fallon was pointing the mosh pit that had opened up and continued to swirl for the rest of the set and again when the band came back for their encore, which included ‘Electric Worry’; a proper foot-stomper live and one where the chorus kept being sung by the crowd as they exited the Bristol Beacon and headed back out into the rain.