Clutch to Headline Inaugural Earth Rocker Festival in Shiley Acres West Virginia May 20th

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

CLUTCH ANNOUNCE FIRST ANNUAL EARTH ROCKER FESTIVAL AT SHILEY ACRES IN INWOOD, WV 

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're pretty jazzed Clutch is starting an annual Earth Rocker Festival. It's a one day event for 2017, with huge potential. Obviously this one's not in Chi, IL -- about a 10 hour road trip actually, but Clutch, Lucero, The Sword and the other bands in the lineup have plenty of fans among Chicago locals. We're stoked that kids under 12 will be free with paying adults, lawn chairs, and pop up tents are allowed, and overnight camping is permitted too. Check it out!

Clutch is pleased to announce their first annual Earth Rocker Festival at Shiley Acres in Inwood, WV on Saturday, May 20th. The lineup includes: Lucero, The Sword, Bad Seed Rising, Apollo’s Prophecy, and  the Frederick Maryland School of Rock band. Tickets for the festival are on sale now at this location: https://tinyurl.com/n3saltt. 

The festival is a daytime event that has the parking field opening at 9am.  Gates to the show open at 12 noon and music starts at 1pm.  The festival ends at sunset with overnight camping permitted.  Children under 12 are admitted free of charge.  10x10 pop up tents and lawn chairs are allowed inside designated festival concert areas.

For more information on the line up, directions, camping, on site food and beverages available, hotel accommodations and all “Things You Should Know”, visit http://www.shileyacres.net

"The first annual Earth Rocker Festival takes place at Shiley Acres, in West Virginia” states the band’s front man Neil Fallon.  “We played at Shiley Acres last year and it was a blast.  Our intent is to have a really diverse bill.  If all goes as planned,  Earth Rocker Festival will continue as an annual event, hopefully growing in scope over the years.”  

Guitarist Tim Sult adds “Enjoy the May weather in the best way possible- with a day of rock n roll in a West Virginia field!"   

Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster adds “Earth Rocker Festival is a great way to kick off summer! The green rolling hills of West Virginia will provide the backdrop for our inaugural music event. We wanted to create a musical experience that included a diverse line up of music. We are pleased to announce this year’s line up includes our friends the Sword and the legendary Lucero. Come rock with us!” 

Shiley Acres is an outdoor concert venue located in Inwood, West Virginia. For 40 years Shiley Acres has seen many local and national acts grace it's stage.

                                                  

For more  information, check out Earth Rocker Festival:

@earthrockerfest

Facebook: www.facebook.com/earthrockerfest

Instagram: www.instagram.com/earthrockerfest

Twitter: www.twitter.com/earthrockerfest

PHOTO RECAP: CLUTCH at House of Blues Chicago 10/25/2016

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

It was our great pleasure to catch an epic CLUTCH concert during their 2016 fall tour, on their annual Chicago stop. We got to celebrate a dual birthday night, with lead singer, Neil Fallon, and tour manager, Oscar, both born on October 25th! Direct support on this tour was Zakk Sabbath and Kyng. 









Some of the crowd in the know broke into a spontaneous rendition of "happy birthday" as the band returned from set break, and the enthusiasm was contagious. We were all treated to a high energy set with plenty of old CLUTCH classics and quite a few songs in rare rotation, along with requisite favorites from their latest release. 



HOB Chicago 10/25/16 set list (This is the only photo here that's not mine. It was publicly posted by Tim Sult, guitarist for CLUTCH, who makes a point of sharing most, if not all, set lists on his Facebook page, as the band tours.)

We love that the band members trade off writing the set list for the night, so this show left me wondering if we were along for a ride through Neil Fallon's favorites for his birthday. 



Check out our full set of CLUTCH shots in the slideshow here:
More favorites are embedded below.



This meteoric metal band keeps getting better with age, and their last 2 albums were the most commercially successful, yet they're no sell outs. CLUTCH, often called stoner metal, defies easy categorization, with intelligent, intelligible lyrics of mythic proportion and riffs that cross metal, rock, funk, blues, folk and then some. Unlike many bands who have been touring together 25 years, CLUTCH is no washed up nostalgia act. We've been enjoying their quirky brand of genius since the early 90's an have even road tripped to 3 neighboring states to see them, in addition to catching every Chicago regional show we could. Check out these Maryland badasses. CLUTCH is the real deal and always a good time live.

A bit of CUBS luck must have rubbed off on this long time Clutch fan who caught not only a guitar pick, but a drumstick too! 

Clutch fans are the best! Unlike most metal bands, Clutch manages to cross gender, age, race and socioeconomic factors to reach a unique and varied fan base of loyal rockers.  We've even met 2 and sometimes 3 generations of families at shows together!





Neil has the steely eyed stare of an old time preacher on the tent revival circuit. 

With Tim Sult laying down tight and tasty lead guitar riffs, Neil's hands are free for intense gestures of conviction, and he can focus all his energy on his distinct, growling vocals so many fans have come to love, with an occasional foray into cow bell or guitar.

With JP (Jean-Paul Gaster) and Dan Maines on drums and bass respectively, this band is a force to reckon with. These 4 have a long history and chemistry that can not be denied.

More Favorite CLUTCH Show Shots 10/25/16:

INCOMING: Clutch at House of Blues Chicago

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Hey Chicago. Clutch is coming back through for another smokin' show at House of Blues Chicago! Don't miss this. Here at ChiIL Live Shows, Clutch has been a favorite of ours for decades. In fact, we've run over 26 features on the band over the years, interviewed frontman Neil Fallon, and shot stills from the photo pit numerous times. We've even road tripped to other states to see them 4 times. We've covered them at music fests, tiny hole in the wall dives, and large auditorium shows. And we welcomed in 2016 with them at Bogarts in Cincinnati with a stellar New Years Eve show.

**Click here and scroll down for loads of our Clutch related photo & video features (26+).**

Whether you're just discovering Clutch or you've been a fan since 1991, they're a must see for rock and metal fans. They're hard to pin into a genre, with notes of funk, punk and blues rolled into the mix and literate lyrics, but they shine live, and always dig deep into their archives for set lists full of old favorites and new stuff that just keeps getting better. We love that the band members take turns writing the set lists! 

Clutch - Psychic Warfare World Tour 2016

House of Blues Chicago

• 10/25/2016

FIND TICKETS AT LIVENATION.COM

UPGRADE TO VIP

FOUNDATION ROOM VIP DINING

DINING RESERVATION

• Show Starts: 6:30 PM
• Prices: $35.00

Artist(s) At This Event: Clutch, Zakk Sabbath, Kyng, Clutch - Psychic Warfare World Tour 2016

Event Info:
Doors @ 6:30PM. Performance begins at 8PM. This show is for AGES 17 AND OLDER. Valid Photo ID is required for age restricted shows. Forms of valid ID are current and non-expired Driver's License, State ID or Passport. House of Blues Chicago is a standing room only venue, all tickets are General Admission unless otherwise stated. Please contact the House of Blues Box Office 312.923.2000 to inquire about Dinner Package Seating and/or Disability Seating. Those in need of Accessible seating need to first purchase a General Admission ticket, then contact the venue Box Office at 312.923.2000 to reserve accommodations. House of Blues Chicago is Smoke Free. There is no re-entry.

Notes:

All tickets subject to all applicable facility fees and service charges. No refunds, exchanges, cancelations.

Click HERE for their full Fall 2016 Tour Dates

Artist Info:

It's the parabolic motion of projectiles. Or, as Isaac Newton stated, what goes up must come down - that is, everything except Clutch. Earth Rocker created an insurmountable peak. But Psychic Warfare has altered laws of physics by elevating the smart songwriting and impressive performances of that last album, setting an even higher benchmark as their now-definitive album to date. The eleventh Clutch studio album Psychic Warfare goes straight for the throat with “X-Ray Visions” and never lets go. Working again with acclaimed producer Machine, this time in Texas, the concise arrangements that made Earth Rocker so assertive is the same harness for the combustible musical energy on Psychic Warfare. Harder, faster... let the rhythm hit ‘em. 

Formed in 1991, the Maryland-based band's ability to absorb different musical styles and fabricate them into a distinct Clutch sound continues to be their forté. “A Quick Death In Texas,” overstocked with signature “Clutch heavy” Tim Sult riffs and lonesome guitar licks, and the funk undercurrent of “Your Love Is Incarceration,” color Psychic Warfare with articulate musicality and comfortable familiarity. 

The overall intensity of Psychic Warfare would be self-consuming without the pressure valve of a canny rhythm section. Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster and bassist Dan Maines have an intuitive sense of dynamics that gives weight and contrast to the forcefulness of the vocals, steering Clutch into the straightaway out of tight, exhilarating corners. “I listened closely to the rhythm of Neil’s vocals this time around.” Gaster explains. “The rhythms he sings, are very syncopated. It was my goal to articulate these rhythms on the drums while keeping the pulse of the music strong.” 

Psychic Warfare is cinematic, a soundtrack to the plot of singer Neil Fallon's imagination. The narrative of “ The Affidavit” sets the scene for an album of gunslingers, energy weapons, paranoid neurosis, and the occasional three-legged mule. It's an episodic lyrical landscape populated by abstract characterization, nuance, and clever peculiarity. “I spent a lot of time doting over the lyrics,” Fallon says. “It was fun because I have a great luxury that I'm a professional liar—that's what a storyteller is. Or at least that’s what I try to be. It's the one socially acceptable way to completely deceive people, and that's what they want. If you sing it with enough conviction, people won't question it. I just love that escapism, the fantasy aspect of it. And fantasy doesn’t necessarily equate to dragons and wizards. It can be seedy hotel rooms and sketchy hitchhikers.” 

Gaster says the band knowing Earth Rocker was such a high water mark put them in a position of needing to follow up with an exceptional album. “Looking back on the process, one thing that sticks out in my mind is the amount of rehearsal the band put in. We started each pre-production day by writing out a new album sequence and then playing that sequence straight thru as if it were a set list. I think this allowed us to get inside the songs in a way we had not done before. When it came time to record drum tracks, I had a clear idea of how I wanted to play each song.” 

In the past, Clutch consciously made each album conspicuously different from the last one. “We had a sadistic fear of repeating ourselves,” Fallon admits. “But over the last few years, we've realized our strengths and what it is that people like about us. Why deny it? Clutch is Clutch, embrace what you are.”  The bar is set higher, laws of physics be damned. Psychic Warfare is the new adventure, and it has no limit.