Stoner Groove Rockers Clutch Rock Their ‘Book Of Bad Decisions Tour’ In Chicago’s Concord Music Hall

Mar 17, 2019 James Currie Features, Music News, Reviews 0

By Fred Peth

The groovy American rock/metal band with a bluesy background brought their ‘Book of Bad Decisions Tour 2019’ to the Concord Music Hall. Clutch is supporting their 12^th album Book of Bad Decisions. The night started off with the recording of the song We Need Some Money by Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers. You can find Clutch’s great version of this song on their album Psychic Warfare, as a bonus track.

Clutch took us down the gravel road through a book comprised of tight sounding songs with varying tempos. Having seen Clutch a number of times at Riot Fest, Chicago Open Air and House of Blues, I knew I was in for a fun show. Their songs sound great on their album, but are brought to another level watching Neil Fallon (lead singer/rhythm guitarist) draw in the crowd with his high energetic mannerisms. Who would have thought that going to a Clutch concert, you would get a cooking lesson? Hot Bottom Feeder gives us a simple and easy recipe for Maryland crab cakes. From the look on the “how-to” video online, the cakes look simple to make and from the bands reaction they look delicious as they ate them all up.

From crab cakes to folk magic in Ghoul Wrangler, brought the crowd pushing and moving around as some of the crowd was singing. Jean-Paul Gaster (drums), Dan Malnes (bass) and Tim Sult (guitar) sounded locked together throughout the night. It is a pleasure to see Dan and Tim groove on their instruments, while Jean-Paul skillfully beats on his drums. Emily Dickinson is a great song to intently listen to hearing Jean-Paul, Dan and Tim meld their sounds together.

Increasing the intensity of the night, X-Ray Visions, brought the crowd starting a small mosh pit in the front as others sang around with their arms outstretched. Neil looked like a conjuror on stage proclaiming that psychic warfare might be real and creating new followers. Then walked in Barbarella to keep with the sci-fi theme of the night. Neil joined his band mates on rhythm guitar during In Walks Barbarella. The band’s unison playing set the audience to stun on this mothership.

The worries of the daily grind did not come to mind during Electric Worry. From the looks of the crowd, it seemed like everyone was enjoying rocking out to the southern blues/rock from Maryland that was in front of them. Having some more fun of the night the band covered Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son. This was an enjoyable way to get the whole crowd singing along to a serious song that has stood the test of time.

Clutch ended the night with one of the crowd’s favorites, A Quick Death In Texas. The crowd erupted into screams and cheers at the start of the song. People were grooving and enjoying what would be the last song of the night. There were no bad decisions of this night. The only bad decision that could be made is not going to see them when they are in town.

For more on Clutch, click here

For photos from the Concord Music Hall show, click here

Setlist: Clutch live in Chicago at Concord Music Hall 03-13-19