Clutch – Myth – St. Paul MN – September 18th 2018

Clutch’s “Book of Bad Decisions Tour” came to The Myth nightclub in Saint Paul, on Tuesday, September 18th, 2018.

Tyler Bryant and The Shakedown were the first the grace us with their presence on stage. These guys create a melodic mix of gritty bluesy rock and roll with a southern touch. Lead singer/guitarist, Tyler Bryant, is from Texas, and then relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, which could be where he got his influences and sound from. With their high energy and impressive stage performance they were great at starting off the night and getting the crowd into it.

Sevendust has been distinguishing themselves as a heavy metal band since 1994. I’ve seen these guys several times live and they are always amazing to see live. One of my fascinations with this band is Lajon Witherspoon’s vocals. I admire the way Sevendust fuses heavy metal with Witherspoon’s appeasing vocals. Their debut self-titled album (1997) appeared on the Billboard 200 for sixteen weeks, in 1999 the album went gold. Sevendust’s third album Animosity (2001) has also been gold certified. With their fourth album, Seasons (2003), they debuted at number 14 in the U.S., and sold about 68,000 copies just in the first week, it contains one of their highest charting singles, “Enemy”, and it peaked at number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. Sevendust has and always will have its super loyal fan base, as they know how to capture their fans and keep them consistently pleased throughout the band’s existence. They will always be one of those bands you get excited to see live because you know that they will always perform their best, or make you eager to go out and grab the new record when it’s released, I for one have never been disappointed by this band. They still continue to amaze me and I will resume seeing them as many times as they come around.

Clutch is another rock band that has been gracing stages around the world for 20+ years, since 1991. They derive from Maryland and formed when the four original members met in high school. Clutch’s first album (self-titled) helped them gain mainstream success, as well as continuous touring. Their 2004 album, Blast Tyrant, was re-released in 2011, sold almost three thousand copies nationally, making it appear at number 26 on the Billboard Hard Rock Top 100, the original version debuted at number 15. With their release of Earth Rocker (2013), the band’s tenth album, has charted the highest so far at number 15 on the Billboard Top 200 for five weeks, number 4 on iTunes’ overall Top 100 album chart and number 1 on iTunes’ rock chart, it also won Album of the Year 2013 from Metalhammer magazine. Their newest album, Book of Bad Decisions (2018), released on September 7th, 2018, is the tour headliner name. Clutch creates those songs that everyone in the room is either dancing or singing along to. This is why they are highly recognized for their stage performance, they want everyone in the room to feel energized and enthusiastic about the show as much as they are. As this was my first time seeing them I didn’t know what to expect, but I now know why their fans are so excited about their shows and music. I was impressed with Clutch’s performance and they really do put on a great show.

Review and photos by Kaila Turck