Clutch have been a band for 35 years as of 2026, and Columbus has been a regular stop for a good chunk of them: Rock on the Range in 2016, Sonic Temple in 2024, and a steady string of their own shows in between, including New Year's Eve 2017 at Express Live and KEMBA Live as recently as June 2025. The Maryland four-piece has put records out through its own label, Weathermaker Music, for years now, and the 14th studio album, Wasted Lands, lands January 22, 2027. "The Drifter Returns" came out first that summer, and the title track followed in September.
Neil Fallon's story behind that title song is pure Clutch. Someone on Facebook had been trashing him for supposedly skipping out on a free T-shirt and dinner, a prize from what sounds like a pay-to-play contest he had nothing to do with; people tried to explain it was a hustle, and the guy wouldn't hear it. "So I thought, screw it, no half-measures," Fallon said. "You want a monster? Let's give you one." The band's own pitch for the album lists exploded monuments, haunted coal towns, robber barons, time cops, a chestburster and a creature called Neil Patrick Fallon, with the stated goal of writing songs that hit hardest live. The U.S. tour behind it brings Slomosa and Blood Vulture, and Slomosa turn up on this Sonic Temple bill as well.