Bloodstock Festival 2024 – Friday. If having to follow Hatebreed’s performance at Bloodstock was daunting enough, then having a further gap whilst an emotional tribute to Lemmy and the arrival of his ashes at BOA created a further potential downturn in the excitement before Clutch took to the stage. Yet they took this all in their stride.
Clutch – Bloodstock Festival 2024
Catton Park, Derbyshire – Friday 9 August 2024
Bringing their own inimitable style of stoner blues rock to the Catton Park masses was always going to be interesting, with many a question of ‘Are they a Bloodstock band?’ Yet, in reality, what is a Bloodstock band? For those who may have asked the question, the answer was a resounding yes.
There is something special about this Bloodstock performance. The fans are on tenterhooks awaiting Clutch, and their arrival is greeted with an immense clamour. They are clearly one of the big announcements that people have been waiting for and whose set is widely anticipated.
Clutch are a band that are not worried about titles or trends. They do their own thing. They do it well and have done so for longer than we care to consider. This is a band who have been with us since releasing their first album back in 1993, and after all these years, nothing is going to change them or stop them.
What they do well is hard driving revved up heads down rock ‘n’ roll, and that is exactly what we get. Actually, what we get is eighteen songs in a seventy-five-minute set. Pure class and quality. 
Clutch is a band who are prepared to do their own thing, and this also applies to the setlist. Was it a greatest hits set culled from across their thirteen albums? Well …no. But there was plenty for the first-timers or the less die-hard fans to get their teeth into. Yet there was an intent to also play some less common tunes, some deeper cuts that sent the hardcore fans into delirium.
Opening with two songs from 2015’s Psychic Warfare album, X-Ray Visions and Firebirds! the band instantaneously set out their stance and intent for the show. Opening with a serious crowd-pleaser, they had the BOA hordes instantly on their side.
With Slaughter Beach from their last album following, Clutch continued giving the fans what they wanted. Frontman Neil Fallon energetically whipped up the crowd, his arms windmilling like a demented Joe Cocker. This had the makings of a classic BOA set.
Interestingly we were then treated to four songs from 2004’s Blast Tyrant back to back. With songs like Mercury, Profits Of Doom, fan favourite The Mob Goes Wild and Spleen Merchant, they had Bloodstock on its knees. 
Even when dropping back to play earlier numbers that were not expected, such as A Shogun Named Marcus and Spacegrass, they sent the long-time faithful into delirium.
With ripped-up guitars aplenty, downturned pedal work and wah wah’s throughout, guitarist Tim Sult audibly caressed the audience before manically tearing up the rule book and going full-throttle guitar king.
This was a quite phenomenal set. For those who thought that Hatebreed’s earlier set would be all things to all men, then Clutch came out and reignited the Metal fires. Simply awesome.
Bloodstock 2024 will be held over the long weekend of 8-11 August 2024. MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings, Adrian Stonley, Paul Monkhouse and Keith Conlin will be reporting from Catton Park.
Take Part: Are you at Bloodstock this year? Who are you looking forward to seeing? Want to get in touch and tell us how it’s going? Email MetalTalk Editor Steve Ritchie to tell us how it’s going for you. Bloodstock@MetalTalk.net
#boa24. For more information, visit bloodstock.uk.com. You can view a map of Bloodstock at bloodstock.uk.com/bloodstock_map.jpg
MetalTalk Bloodstock 2024 coverage is at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2024.
You can read all the MetalTalk Bloodstock 2023 coverage at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2023.
You can read all the MetalTalk Bloodstock 2022 coverage at metaltalk.net/tag/bloodstock-2022.
Weekend early bird tickets (Thu-Sun) for Bloodstock 2025 are available to purchase at the box office on-site for £175. Child weekend early bird’s are £45 (ages 4 -11). Mini moshers under age four can come for free.
Wednesday early access is also available for those who want to max out their Bloodstock experience – an early bird adult Wed-Sun ticket costs £200. There is no additional cost for children under 4, or aged 4-11, to arrive with a parent on Wednesday.
Bloodstock 2025 tickets can be purchased online from the official Bloodstock website.
