Maryland-based stoner-rock band Clutch has announced dates for a five-concert 30th anniversary tour at the end of 2021. Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri’s new Kyuss offshoot Stoner will be supporting them, and The Native Howl will be opening.
The five concerts will take place during the last five days of 2021, starting at Rams Head in Baltimore, MD on December 27. The venues following will be Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ, Agoura Theatre in Cleveland, OH and Filmore Theatre in Detroit, MI, before a final appearance at The Icon in Cincinatti, OH on New Year’s Eve.
“We are incredibly excited to hit the road again,” Clutch stated. “We’ve missed the shows, the fans, the venues and the opportunity to watch the other bands we share the stage with. It’s going to feel like our first show all over again and we can’t wait! Come out and let’s make some Rock and Roll!.”
Tickets will be made available to the public this Friday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. local time here. The tickets site also shows Clutch scheduled for Into the Grave music festival at Oldehoofsterkerkhof in Leeuwarden, Netherlands on June 10, 2022.
Clutch is a four-piece band consisting of frontman Neil Fallon, drummer Jean-Paul Gaster, bassist Dan Maines and guitarist Tim Sult. They formed in 1990 and have released 12 studio albums since then, from Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes and Undeniable Truths (1993) to Book of Bad Decisions (2018), which is their most recent album, not including 2020’s The Weathermaker Vault Series: Volume 1.
The first volume of the Weathermaker Vault Series consisted entirely of newly-released recordings of old songs. However, they did put some deep cuts on it, including a previously vinyl-only track titled “Run, John Barleycorn.” Aside from the vault release, most of Fallon and the rest of the band’s recent releases have been covers, including versions of ZZ Top’s “Precious & Grace,” Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” and Two Minutes to Late Night version of AC/DC’s “Riff Raff.”
Stoner is a band that formed earlier this year between 1987-1992 Kyuss members Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork, along with former Hammerface drummer Ryan Güt behind the kit. Bjork talked with Outlaws Of The Sun about their formation, “Nick called me up and wanted to jam. So we got together and we were having a blast and this felt right. It was cool all of us playing together. It felt like we were kids starting out again just playing for the fun of it without any outside pressure.”
He continued, “We all put our musical influences into this via original jam sessions. This feels like a mixture of punk rock, metal, blues rock and hard rock. Some stuff we’re already known for and some stuff that will surprise and hopefully entertain people.”
Bjork also stated that Stoner would be “a full-time thing.” He clarified, “We’ve got long-term plans for Stoner and the music that we create. We’re booking tour dates for 2022 onwards in Europe and possibly in the United States. Those plans are in the hands of our booking agents but we’ve been told the pandemic should be under more control next year and more areas will open up for live performances to happen.”
As for the opener, The Native Howl, they’re an esoteric bluegrass act that draws inspiration from thrash metal. Their most famous release is the 2016 EP on which they started incorporating metal influences, called Thrash Grass.
Clutch 30th Anniversary Tour
12/27 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head
12/28 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
12/29 – Cleveland, OH – Agoura Theatre
12/30 – Detroit, MI – Filmore Theatre
12/31 – Cincinnati, OH – The Icon
Photo credit: Boston Lynn Schulz
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