Live Review: Clutch - O2 Academy, Birmingham
17th December 2025
Words: Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
Clutch rolled into Birmingham with the confidence of a band that knows exactly who they are and why people keep showing up. The Fortune Tellers Make A Killing Nowadays tour is all about the pure Chistmas party spirit.
Bokassa hit the stage first and wasted no time making the room theirs. Opening with ‘Freelude’ and crashing straight into ‘Last Night (Was a Real Massacre)’, they played like a band determined to leave a dent. The riffs were blunt, the delivery direct, and the crowd response immediate.
Jorn’s humour, as ever, won over even the most sceptical in the crowd with quips about Gordons gin and Tesco’s high on the agenda. ‘Garden of Heathen’, ‘Everyone Fails In The End’, and ‘Crocsodile Dundee’ landed with bite, while ‘Bradford Death Squadron’ and ‘Immortal Space Pirate’ pushed the tempo higher, faster, harder. Closing with ‘Walker Texas Danger’, Bokassa left the stage having done exactly what an opening band should do… raise the bar.
1000Mods followed with a thicker, grittier sound that shifted the atmosphere. ‘Electric Carve’ and ‘Road to Burn’ rolled out slow and heavy, locking the crowd into a deeper groove. There’s a bouncing energy to their music and it’s absorbed by the fans and fed back in kind.
By the time ‘Götzen Hammer’ and ‘Speedhead’ landed, the room was fully engaged. ‘Low’ dragged with purpose, ‘Overthrown’ snapped back with force, and ‘Vidage’ closed the set on a rumbling high.
Clutch walked on to ‘Subtle Hustle’, easing the crowd in before detonating ‘The Mob Goes Wild’. From that point on, the set rarely let up. ‘Earth Rocker’ and ‘X-Ray Visions’ hit with precision, proving that newer material sits comfortably beside long-standing favourites.
The middle of the set leaned into groove and swagger. ‘Firebirds!’, ‘Slaughter Beach’, and ‘Crucial Velocity’ were delivered with a locked-in rhythm section that never overplayed its hand. ‘
Clutch have always thrived on controlled chaos and ‘Nosferatu Madre’ showed that instinct is still sharp. ‘Walking in the Great Shining Path of Monster Trucks’ rolled forward with its familiar lurch, while ‘Mice and Gods’ kept the crowd moving without a hint of filler.
The run toward the end was ruthless. ‘The Regulator’ landed with weight, ‘The Streets Are His’ snapped tight, and ‘The Face’ closed the main set on a high that felt earned rather than staged. No speeches, no indulgence, just their music doing the work.
The encore was inevitable and perfectly judged. ‘Electric Worry’ lit the fuse, and ‘Burning Beard’ finished the night in full roar. Clutch didn’t come to Birmingham to surprise anyone; they came to deliver, and they did it as a band still operating at full power.
Merry Clutchmas everyone!
Photo Credits: Tim Finch Photography
