CLUTCH’s JEAN-PAUL GASTER Looks Back On Touring With PANTERA: ‘Those Guys Were Just Absolutely On Fire’

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In a recent interview with Joshua Toomey of the "Talk Toomey" podcast, CLUTCH drummer Jean-Paul Gaster reflected on the band's early 1997 North American tour as the support act for PANTERA. He said: "[PANTERA] at that time was nothing like I'd ever seen before. I watched every single show, and the power that that band was able to put on stage, I think, was pretty mindblowing. The guys in the band were all great dudes — they were humble and happy to have us on tour; very, very friendly towards us. And those shows that we played were some of the biggest shows we ever played up to that point. I think probably the one show that really stands out for me the most was when we played in Brownsville, Texas, which is almost on the on the Mexican line — super far south in Texas. We've never played that far south ever again since then. And the crowd there was just absolutely on fire." He continued: "I think probably a lot of people think that might have been sort of the peak of the band, when they had their catalog going for them, the stage show was totally happening, and those guys were just absolutely on fire. And so I just have good, fond memories of that tour. And, man, I would love to do something like that again one day. Of course, that's not gonna happen, but, man, it was a beautiful tour, and we were very happy to be a part of it." Last month, CLUTCH released a new studio recording of the track "Smoke Banshee". The single was the latest in a series of new studio recordings that comprise the "Weathermaker Vault Series". CLUTCH frontman Neil Fallon recently confirmed to Sonic Perspectives that the band has commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2018's "Book Of Bad Decisions" album. In April, CLUTCH released "Monsters, Machines, And Mythological Beasts", a themed digital-only compilation of songs from the band's vast catalog. "Book Of Bad Decisions" came out in September 2018. The record sold 26,000 copies in America during its first week of availability, giving the group its third consecutive Top 20 album on the Billboard 200. "Book Of Bad Decisions" was recorded at Sputnik Sound studio in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Vance Powell.