Clutch @ Classic Grand, 5 Dec

Decked out in a poncho, with that trademark trucker cap pulled over his brow, Neil Fallon surveys the bedlam of a Friday night in Glasgow from the corner of Argyll Street like he was the High Plains Drifter. They may hail from the backwoods of Maryland, but Clutch are no strangers to these mean streets. Having winched themselves -- to considerable critical acclaim -- from their stoner rock pigeonhole with 2001’s Pure Rock Fury, the Maryland quartet has remained under a glass ceiling on the club circuit ever since.

Even as a last minute addition to their European itinerary, tonight the Classic Grand is rammed with the Scottish contingent of their faithful following. Demonstrating how acutely the blues have brought a rustic veneer to Clutch’s latter day records, they play a set top heavy on material from 2005’s Robot Hive/Exodus and last year’s From Beale Street to Oblivion. But the dusty southern charm that made them famous remains in spades; off-kilter kick-drums, ZZ Top-sized riffs and Fallon’s bark ultimately muffle the surreal couplets pouring from his mouth. The sound man’s quite alright, though; this is just the way they play it.