Sevendust, Clutch, Stuck Mojo & Ultraspank

Sevendust, Clutch, Stuck Mojo & Ultraspank
Club X-Treme, Cameron Park, Ca
Wednesday, October 14, 1998

It was a sweatfest; it was a grind-all; it was a menagerie of metal as four of the hardest rocking newcomer bands came stomping to a little hamlet called Cameron Park at Club X-Treme (old Sam’s Town family fun center). Old Sam’s is a far cry from what it was in it’s heyday, as a restaurant and Western-style entertainment place for kids of all ages, yet it still provides the same function as the new Club X-Treme: it is still a venue for entertaining the youth. On this night it did it’s job well, providing an ample supply of hard core energy with Santa Barbara’s Ultraspank, Atlanta, Georgia’s Stuck Mojo, Germantown, Maryland’s Clutch and Atlanta, Georgia’s Sevendust. It was a whirlwind of excitement.

One of Epic Records’ newest attractions is the ultra-thrash sound of the five-piece Ultraspank, and they were first to inject the mighty metal venom into the pre-frenzied, over-capacity crowd. There was no energy build-up with Ultraspank, they just dove head first into an on-stage mosh of sorts, compelling the frothing crowd—which really didn’t need any extra incentive to go crazy—to do the same. These guys have a diverse metal arsenal, dabbling in many sounds. At various times, you can hear influences from Tool, Pantera and Floater, even though they have "...never heard of Floater," declared Ultraspank lead singer Pete Murray in my interview before the show. Their interpretations of these influences makes for an all-encompassing sound which was displayed on cuts like "Butter," "Fired" and "Worn." The crowd dug it.

Next was Stuck Mojo. They pulled off the nearly impossible by bringing in that full, powerful sound despite being only a 4-piece, something that I find that hard core bands have a hard time doing without the extra rhythmic support from a second guitar. Stuck Mojo, and their adopted slogan of "Jerry’s dead; Phish sucks; get a job; Stuck Mojo," combine elements of Hard core thrash metal and funk/hip-hop beats into an amalgam of metal-esque mayhem. I didn’t get much information on Stuck Mojo, and this was the first time I had heard or seen them, but I did get one song title, "Grind It," which sparked the evening’s first crowd surfing. These Southern boys are definitely worth a second look.

Then Clutch popped on stage. If there was an odd band out this night it was Clutch. Not because they sucked (they don’t suck), but because their sound is so unique that it brings a much different vibe when compared to the other three bands on the line up. Clutch’s hard core label stems mostly from lead singer Neil Fallon’s incredibly dynamic vocals ranging from a loud and powerful talk-like voice to the roughest-but-still-cohereable screams that I’ve ever heard. But it’s Clutch’s music that really knocks my socks off. They didn’t even play their latest hit single, yet they opened with a jazzy instrumental variation of "The Elephant Riders" that blew me away with it’s mellow heaviness. Another highlight for me was their rendition of an instrumental off of their latest CD. "Crackerjack," as it is called, has a trombone interlude on the CD, but on this night, instead of a trombone, Stuck Mojo lead singer Bones joined Clutch on stage for an improve rap session. I could talk about Clutch all day, but since I still have to tell you people about Sevendust, that’s just not possible.

Headliners Sevendust, on the West Coast leg of their "Southern Fried Chicken Tour," had some small delays before escalating the crowd into rarely-seen level of intense aggression. The once minuscule mosh pit grew to engulf even the most passive of concert go-ers across the entire club floor. At one point during the second song, I was overrun by girls who were fleeing for their lives because they were caught in a mosh that started so quickly that placid people didn’t have time to react to the quickly-changing, virulent vibe. Playing most of the scorching tunes from their self-titled debut CD with an energy level that was off the scale, I literally didn’t have the strength to fight the crowd for the entire show.

It was a stellar night of metal madness. All of the bands broke down and set up quickly and they all kept their sets relatively short, which was perfect for such an emotionally draining show. If you’ve been jonesing for some good grinding rock, you must check out each and every one of these bands.

– Bret Lueder

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