HellYeah, Clutch, Kyng, MonstrO – Rochester NY

PHOTOGRAPHS | REVIEW BY: NADINE SWIGER

It was an evening of pure adrenaline, metal and a nothing but a “Hell Of A Time!” as the co-headling tour of HellYeah and Clutch made a stop at Rochester NY’s Water St Music Hall. They drew a huge crowd, that rocked and at times were singing along and were louder than the band on stage. It’s been a while since I have witness a crowd that loud and energetic!

With a new album titled “Band Of Brothers” scheduled for a July 17th, 2012 release, HellYeah is back in America, hitting the clubs and theaters with a force not to be reckoned with. They came out setting the tone with “Cowboy’s Way” and went straight into “Matter of Time” and “Stampede.” From the front of the stage to the back of the room, all you could see were waves of fist pumped in the air! A highlight for me was when they played their newly released song, “War In Me.” They came out hitting it hard and the club blew up! The song is heavy and packs a punch and live, the energy was over the top and it sounded amazing! When Musician Photo Journal sat down with guitarist, Tom Cat Maxwell and Vinnie Paul Abbottt, they re-assured us that this song sets the pace to the whole album. In a little over 3 weeks, the official first single and title track, “Band Of Brothers” will be hitting airwaves and a video that is going to heat up your facebook and youtube pages. HellYeah fans, I too can feel the anticipation growing! To find out more about the new album, the tour and future tour plans of HellYeah (which includes a tour with Volbeat right after the Clutch tour) be sure to check out the interview we did here.

Preceding HellYeah was co-headliner Clutch with their full-length set. They came out hitting the stage strong with “Mob Goes Wild” and right into “50,000 Unstoppable Watts”. Clutch’s set felt like there was “50,000 Unstoppable Watts” coming through those amps. Of course, is that not the essential part of a great metal show! With almost 2 decades of music to choose from, one can only wonder how Clutch picks a set list? The song they did choose, was packed with a tight list that included “Immortal” “The Devil & Me” “Mice and Gods” and closing out the set with “Electric Worry!” Clutch fans alike couldn’t seem to get enough! Musician Photo Journal also sat down with Clutch’s drummer, Jean-Paul before the show to talk about their re-release of “Blast Tyrant,” the new 7inch picture disc with their new song, “Pigtown Blues” and about the new album in the works. Jean Paul shares with us an old time Clutch trait of how they work out the new songs plus shares his take on the music industry; you can catch the interview here.

Warming up the crowd was the Southern Californian band Kyng and the Atlantic, GA based band Monstros. Kyng had a great rocking vibe which got the crowd banging their heads from the start. Reminiscent at times of the rock/metal of the late 1970’s, Kyng brings a refreshing blend of older school metal with a new outlook that launches their sound into what could be the next big thing in 2012! Their debut album, “Trampled Sun” was released on September 27 that included “Falling Down” and “Trails in Veins” both mixed by Mike Watts (Adelita’s Way, Hopesfall, Quicksand, Brand New). Kyng will continue on touring, with a few dates with In This Moment, before they jump on tour with 10 years and Fair To Midland. So Keep an eye out as you will not want to miss Kyng!

Kicking off the night was MonstrO. Forming in 2009, emerging from the inch to make music, ex-Bloodsimple members, Kyle Sanders (Bloodsimple, Skrew, Medication) and Bevan Davies (Bloodsimple, Danzig, Jerry Cantrell, Comes With The Fall) got together with Torche guitarist Juan Montoya (Torche, Floor Cavity) and began jamming, creating mosterous riffs that needed to be taken to the next level. They recruited Charlie Suarez (Sunday Driver) for vocals and on second guitar to complete the line-up. In 2011, MonstrO went into the studio with producer William DuVall (Alice in Chains’ vocalist) and released their debut album on Sept 6, 2011 on Vagrant Records.

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TOUR DATES :

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Apr. 20 – Traverse City, MI @ Ground Zero
Apr. 21 – Ft. Wayne, IN @ Pierre’s
Apr. 22 – Toledo, OH @ Headliner’s
Apr. 23 – Dayton, OH @ McGuffy’s House of Rock (CLUTCH only)
Apr. 24 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater
Apr. 25 – Des Moines, IA @ Wooly’s
Apr. 28 – Lincoln, NE @ Box Awesome’s Bourbon Lounge
Apr. 29 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
May 01 – Springfield, MO @ Gillioz Theater
May 02 – Wichita, KS @ Cotillion
May 03 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom (CLUTCH only)
May 04 – Sauget, IL @ Pops
May 05 – Chattanooga, TN @ Track 29
May 06 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater (CLUTCH only)
May 06 – Atlanta, GA @ WLKS Project Cinco Party (HELLYEAH only)
May 08 – Libertyville, IL @ Austins
May 10 – Rock Island, IL @ Rock Island Brewery (CLUTCH only)
May 11 – Joilet, IL @ Mojoes
May 12 – Detroit, MI @ St Andrews Hall (CLUTCH only)
May 13 – Flint, MI @ Machine Shop (CLUTCH only)
May 19 – Hartford, CT @ WCCC Big Gig (HELLYEAH only)
May 27 – Pryor, OK @ Rocklahoma (HELLYEAH only)