Opening band: Crobot

[ack1961]

My oldest son and I went to see one of my all-time favorite bands, Clutch, this past Friday and Saturday nights.
The two supporting bands were Crobot & The Sword. The Sword has a pretty massive following, and I knew what to expect.

Crobot, a 4-piece from PA (a band that I had never even heard of prior to this show) came out first and lit the place up with a raucous 40 minute set.  They have a heavy, 70's-ish groove that brings the word "filthy" to mind. I liken them a bit to Rival Sons, Black Water Rising, Red Fang, etc.

I picked up their CD and in my estimation, it does not truly represent just how dynamic they are live. Granted, the drummer and bassist (the Figueroa brothers) are both recent additions to the band and did not record on their album.  Their bassist sported a faded SG that rattled the fixtures, yet sounded articulate enough to really enjoy the nuances of power bass. He has that Jamerson pointer-finger thing going on.

If they come through your town, give them a look.
Here's a video of a tune from their album (with the original rhythm section):

[LoEndMaestro]

I picked up that Crobot record last Spring, I really dig it. Nice old school vibe. They just got picked up by Wind Up records and should have a new one out pretty soon. I've yet to see them live, fingers crossed for a tour date near me.

[Basvarken]

Wow! Totally digging this band. Thanx for the tip.

[Barklessdog]

Cool band, thanks!

[sniper]

kind of reminds me of Heep

[ack1961]

I went up on their website after the show and left a note saying that we really enjoyed every aspect of their live show.
The singer replied back that they are releasing some of their upcoming shows on YouTube with good quality audio.
I saw the band after the show standing across from the merch table - they had about 10 people standing there laughing their asses off - they seem kinda down to Earth...and hungry.

[rexdiablo]

I can't believe I missed these shows!!! I didn't know they were happening after the initial cancellation until after they passed. Fan of all 3 bands, and haven't seen Clutch in 17 years or so. Typing that makes me feel older than I probably should...

[Highlander]

I haven't seen Skynyrd since '77

Don't ask how old that makes me feel...

[uwe]

kind of reminds me of Heep

I hear some mid-period Sabbath too. As I do with these guys:



Or these here:





Wolfmother seem to have had a lasting effect on many bands



All these bands do what they do well, but is pretending that we still live in 1971 (and painstakingly emulating recording techniques from that period in the age of protools) really the way forward for heavy rock music? It's a bit like Sha-Na-Na appearing in Woodstock in 1969



(Flash thought: Did Sha-Na-Na inspire The Village People?  )

and pretending that the fifties never stopped - except that Sha-Na-Na were taking the piss while all the above bands seem to take it serious. I love hard and heavy rock and even some heavy metal, but don't have nostalgia overcrowd it. There is something wrong when an album of approaching seventy-year-olds such as Sabbath's 13 - even with Rick Rubin's conscioous retro production - sounds more modern then all the guys above. What are these bands gonna do in five years from now? Progress to how bands began to sound in the mid-seventies?   Reminds me a bit of when the NME quipped about a mid-eighties Iron Maiden album "Certainly one of the better produced albums to come from 1972."

[LoEndMaestro]

I love Uncle Acid. Graveyard is rather good too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt31N3lFFww&feature=share


and this one has a Ripper.



And while I can totally appreciate what Uwe is saying, I am an early 70s rock guy all the way. While some of these bands could be labeled as derivative or anachronistic, to my ears it's much better than what's being paraded around as "rock" these days. Which sadly enough seems to be a dying (or at least endangered) genre. There are bands like Tool & QOTSA that seem to push the envelope, and I anxiously await the torchbearers who can propel heavy rock forward.
And as much as I wanted to, I could not get into to that new Sabbath record. I feel that Iommi's best recent work was the Hughes/Thrall "Fused" project.

I just checked....that record is already 8 years old. Yikes.

[uwe]

I like late sixties/early seventies hard and heavy rock too, but if I'm honest I prefer the refinement of more midseventies album such as Machine Head/Burn, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Physical Graffiti or Heep's Demons & Wizards to the rawer earlier output such as In Rock, the first two Sabbath and Zeppelin albums as well as Heep's Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble. I like a little refinement with my rock - I appreciate the early Beatles stuff, but Sgt. Pepper puts me in awe.

Did I tell, no confess to you that I sludged through all of Yes' Tales of Topographic Oceans remaster recently and enjoyed it? I don't think I ever heard that, uhum, "work" in its entirety before. Is all of it necessary? No, but it isn't all redundant either, there are some real high points.

[LoEndMaestro]

Oh, I totally agree about the enjoyment factor of the mid period 70s stuff.

Refinement, experimentation, and coca leaves. 

Stormbringer is one of my all time fave DP records, For Earth Below & Long Misty Days get more playing time from me than Bridge Of Sighs, and Physical, Presence....(well, and III) are the only Zep LPs I throw on anymore.


But yeah, excellent point -- the new bands that we've discussed here definitely have more of the proto-metal '71 vibe going on, but I still enjoy them.



And I willingly listen to ELP records....and they're chock full of redundancies!

[uwe]

ELP are sometimes a little harsh for me, the "malest" of all Prog bands, the battle for supremacy of every player (with Lake still leaving the most room to the other two, imagine if Chris Squire had been their bassist) is so tangible it's physical. And no woman ever likes them unless Lake is singing something suitably angelic. I can listen to Jethro Tull, Genesis, Yes, Camel and even Gentle Giant etc endlessly at home and have no complaints from Edith, but three tracks of ELP and the headache Richter scale comes into play.

[nofi]

even though i give uwe a lot of crap he takes it with more grace than i could ever muster. i agree with him on this 70's retro thing. boring and predictable. i enjoyed the early 70's period quite a bit when it was actually happening but not so much anymore.

[ack1961]

It's one of the great things about LBO - people can have differing opinions and not be total douches about it.

Personally, being born in 1961 and getting into music in the late 60's/early 70's, I have an affinity for that era's rock music.  DP, Heep, Zep, etc. were mainstays in my life.  I grew somewhat disenchanted with music by the 90's, and I love the fact that some bands (TCV, Rival Sons, Red Fang, etc.) have filled a void with solid reproduction of classic rock attitude and delivery.  I love the bare bones, no glam/makeup/unitards/cat-faced drummers  presentation with bare-knuckle music, and I don't find this stuff boring or predictable - I find it refreshing.  The music I find boring and predictable  (Kiss, Rush, Jaco, etc.) seem to be so over-the-top revered throughout the music-related forums that I just shake my head and wonder what most folks see in that stuff.  To me, music is energy, not entertainment.