By Jase Walker
In a rare turn of events I wasn’t quite able to make it to the venue way before any of the bands hit the stage thanks to a combination of work commitments and going to the wrong bloody venue!
I get in just as Tigercub kick off and I honestly thought I was listening to Royal Blood on the way in, they’ve got a real similar knack for matching highly melodic vocals with some really groovy guitar work! They’ve also got that similar mids-heavy sound that’s so reminiscent of Royal Blood and Queens Of The Stone Age, with the bass often playing along and matching the guitar. It’s pretty impressive how much of a really full and massive sound they’ve got with just the three of them as well, often you’d expect three pieces to be a bit raw and maybe occupy a thinner sliver of sound but that’s absolutely not the case for Tigercub.
It’s great how they’ve got a drum kit that kicks as hard as it does without obliterating the sound of everything else which has been the case at Academy 1 shows quite a few times this year. The three-piece are absolutely smashing it in this set though, there’s something about this dirty, sleazy, groove-laden rock that’s caught my attention from the moment I’ve walked in. The sheer aggression of that bass tone is great, every single song it’s there in the background growling constantly while the low frequencies shake my legs, sounds thick enough to chew on! Their guitarist at some parts reminds me a lot of Matt Bellamy of Muse as well, something about his singing style mixed with his eclectic choices of guitar effects and often discordant and noisy playing. Fantastic opening set from these guys, groovy, weird, but proper meaty.
Next on tonight is Green Lung and very on-brand they’re using shades of green (to start with anyway) for their lighting which is pretty consistent I guess! It’s pretty cool seeing them up on a stage this size as I’ve seen their name around for years now but never made the time to see them but have noticed their name and bill position steadily move up as time’s gone on. Admittedly it’s really not stuff I would listen to normally and I’m struggling to really engage with it but I really can’t fault how they’re sounding or what they’re like to watch on stage.
Green Lung by this point have a really well honed live show, a fantastic sound balance that lets every component part of the band really punch through without fear of smothering the others (including the keys!) As well as lots of movement that makes them pretty fun to watch them do their thing.
While I’m not totally engaged by their style, I can certainly appreciate where their influences have come from with some really strong Black Sabbath and Deep Purple vibes, especially when the keys are going all in with the organ sound and going wild with it. Solid show, can definitely understand how they’ve built their popularity over the years and why I know so many people that love what they do. Not really my thing but I can definitely vouch for their live performance being pretty damn good.
A bit of a weirdly long changeover before Clutch darkens the room for their walk-on. It’s time for a massive dose of that blues laden stuff, that signature Rickenbacker bass tone is shaking my legs right from the start too! Really strong start from Clutch, admittedly you can tell they prefer the focus of the stage show to be almost entirely their vocalist with him marching around the stage and directing the crowd while the band does their thing. Despite a bit of a slow initial response from the crowd, the further along we get through the set, the more wild the crowd begins to get, maybe some waving arms at first but not long until pints start flying around and heads appear above the crowd bouncing around.
It’s pretty impressive watching Neil Fallon essentially choreograph each song while still keeping his focus on directing the crowd to join in with his antics *and* still singing like he does. Clutch are definitely a band where it’s less about knowing what every word is and singing it back (although some people are) and more about just getting stuck into the music and going wild with it. People further back are quite happy dancing with each other or just flinging their heads around, all the while people in the front are grabbing hold of each other to bounce around together. We’ve also got a guest spot from I think he said “Bear Midberg”? (Note: it was “Per Wiberg!”), sitting down to play keys for a while so hopefully we’ll get a nice long keys solo here too!
“I like playing here, I get to hang out in the Students Union, creeping people out” he says with a wry grin, so who knows? Next time they play here, pop to the SU bar for a pint and you might get accosted by a bearded American! As you’d probably expect, ending with “Electric Worry”, their biggest song by a massive margin begets a massive roar from the audience the moment those first distinct notes land. Clutch have done well to pack out Academy 1 as well as they have and have gone for quite a spin through their back catalogue as well. Despite the incredibly cold weather and transport adversity, it’s been a great night of a diverse range of music.
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