PETER PAN SPEEDROCK, Desert Storm, General @Asylum 2, Birmingham 6/9/13

When last we saw General it was opening for Clutch at a packed Rock City. The Coventry band showed enough that night to convince us that they have something interesting going on. Tonight, it is a less than huge audience at the Asylum that greets them, but that somehow suits the band – they seem far more at home and somehow the riffs to songs like “Bullet Train” and “Better Dead” seem heavier tonight than back in July. Not trying to reinvent anything, instead General are a very passable Midlands version of Wiseblood era Corrosion of Conformity, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that whatsoever.

Desert Storm are another band that RTM has seen in the recent past. In this very venue, in July they performed opening duties for Karma To Burn and they impressed us hugely, with their take on what might be termed “The Clutch sound”. Certainly a couple of their songs owe a fairly huge debt to everyone’s favourite Maryland (Earth) rockers, but what sets them apart from most bands of this type is  Matt Ryan’s vocals. A touch more guttural than many stoner acts, it gives him the feel of Lemmy gargling razor blades. That delivery adds an edge to tracks like “Astral Planes” and “Queen Reefer” which has a huge riff and leaves no one in any doubt what it is about. If you thought that Oxford was all about Radiohead and dreaming spires then Desert Storm are here to change your mind.

If you weren’t aware of Dutch three piece Peter Pan Speedrock (and they are very much a cult act) then the opening acts – and the fact that they have been giving Monster Magnet an airing all night in the changeovers – might give you slightly the wrong Impression.

PPS deal with matters a little more punk rock than the other two bands tonight. Like Motorhead if they wrote two minute songs, or the glorious chaos of the first Hellacopters album, they are not a band to do “subtle”. Consequently their 45 minutes with us this evening is fast, loud, riff-filled and snotty.

During the course of the evening they play a song called “Donkeypunch” which finds them “horny and drunk” and another in “Resurrection” which tells us “we are gonna rock, you’re gonna roll”…. you get the picture.

They are one of those bands that seem eternally grateful that anyone has turned up at all, whilst at the same time seeming like they would have had just as much fun if we hadn’t. They end with “I’m A Big Boy With A Big Toy” which is dedicated to an audience member who is getting married and a track called “Rock City” which sounds just like all the others that have preceded it, and that, you suspect is the point.

This is fabulous, big, dumb fun to be enjoyed and not analysed. Not music concerned with how many roads a man has to walk down, but how much destruction he can cause on the way. An excellent way to spend a Friday night.

CLUTCH, Sons of Icarus, General @Rock City, Nottingham 9/7/13

Balding men in the mid to late 30s who also have beards, seem to have found their role model if the crowd tonight at Rock City is anything to go by. The venue is packed with just that type of clientele.

The reason that we (and lets be in doubt that RTM is in its late 30s, is balding and has a beard) are in the East Midlands is to worship at the altar of Clutch and specifically their frontman Neil Fallon, who would act as our spokesperson, if we only knew what the hell he was singing about.

But before all that, let’s break it down to brass tacks, as Fallon might say himself. Joining Clutch on this tour are two young British bands, who might – given the sense of anticipation for the headliners, expect a difficult time. Actually, such fears prove unfounded and General go down pretty well. The Coventry band have evidently listened to a lot of Corrosion of Conformity, and songs such as “Monkey City” showcase their talent nicely.

Another fast rising UK combo, Sons Of Icarus, are next up. The Guildford based four piece have garnered some rave reviews for their early shows. Not quite as overtly stoner as the openers, and without the all out riffery of Clutch, instead they knock out some infectious hard rock grooves and, with a new album due to out soon, are ones to keep an eye on  - although one of the tracks did stray a touch too close to power balladry.

It was in this very room where RTM was anointed into the cult of Clutch. A few years ago they were the main support to the aforementioned CoC. They were brilliant. Then we saw them support Thin Lizzy 18 months or so back. They were brilliant.

This is, though, our first experience of seeing the band – Fallon on vocals, occasional guitar and cowbell, Tim Sult on guitar, Dan Maines on bass and drummer John Paul Gaster – headline. They are in town because in March the put out what very well might be the album of the year when such things are totted up in December. “Earth Rocker” is a quite stunning piece of music that for our money is right up there with the best they have ever done – which makes it very, very good indeed.

They begin with its title track. The song does two things. First, it encapsulates everything that good about the band. It has massive riffs, is catchy but interesting. Second it is perhaps the only song in metal history to contain at his heart the word “bloooahaha” (just listen to it).

The band clearly think “….Rocker” is as good as we do, because during the course of their hour and half with us they knock out 10 songs from it (or in other words, all but one). “DC Sound Attack” and “The Face” are perhaps the best of them.

There is a dip into some of their older material, with four songs from “Blast Tyrant” and arguably their best known song “Electric Worry,” which closes things.

What happened tonight was quite phenomenal. The crowd response to the four-piece is verging on the rabid and proves the band are on the very verge of becoming genuine stars.

To borrow another line from one of their songs, “if you are gonna do it, do it live on stage, or don’t it at all.” And quite frankly that is exactly what they did. We are close to being in gig-of-the-year-so-far territory. Clutch are our band, everyone. And they are quite, quite fantastic.