Clutch

Wednesday was what some would call a hardcore day. I attended a concert in St. Louis that evening. Clutch was the band. If you haven’t heard of them, I’d describe them as a hard rock band with blues and funk influences. I enjoy their music and had heard their live show was a sight to be seen.

Of course, working and living in Kansas City made this a time-consuming proposition. (Gretchen suggested I go to their Lawrence show instead, but I don’t really know anyone who would like to attend this show with me here in KC. Not that I don’t have friends though. I just don't know anyone here in town who enjoys this particular genre of music. I have TONS of friends. Really. I’m not a loser….[quiet sobbing]….) In all actuality, I went with three friends who are living in St. Louis and I couldn’t go with them the last three or four times Clutch had swung through this part of the country.

Obviously, since I had work to attend on Wednesday and then Thursday, it proved to be an intense twelve hours or so. I departed KC at 2:30 and, with the drive being approximately four hours (for me anyway, sorry I’m not a maniacal speeder. When I hear things from people like, “FOUR hours? It’s that far? Grandma,” it makes me want to see these people make the drive. They think they’re hardasses, and they aren’t), I arrived at 6:30.

The show was at 7, but Clutch hadn’t arrived yet. Eventually, the show began at 8:30 with an opening act. Finally, Clutch is on stage at 9:30. And they rock hard, of course. The exciting thing about the show was that it was a two-set show, so they played one, for about an hour, took a break, and then came back and played for an hour and 15 minutes. They were an excellent live band indeed. Neil Fallon, the studly vocalist, was very animated in his delivery. The mosh pits were intense, and though I occasionally indulge in a pit for a song or two, I passed at this concert. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I saw this huge guy walk out of crowd with blood literally pouring from his mouth.

The show ended around midnight. I was ready to crawl into bed, except that I had a four hour drive ahead of me. Off I went at 12:20 AM, across the great state of Missouri. I stop at Jack in the Box for a late-late dinner, filled up my tank at QuikTrip, and forged onward. Thankfully, my friends Rooster Booster and Donkey Kick kept me going. (Take that, Red Bull.) I pulled into the garage at 4:20 AM, precisely four hours later. Nothing like two hours of sleep before work the next day, but who hasn’t been there before, right? Although, I can’t choose to skip work if I want to, unlike in previous instances. In the end, though, it was eight hours of driving and two hours of sleeping well worth it.