Live Review: Cautious Clay
Talented multi-instrumentalist R&B musician Cautious Clay recently performed to a sold-out crowd at Bimbo’s 365 Club.
Broken Dreams Club photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins and local journalist Yael Bright attended the show.
Photos: Aaron. Words: Yael.
For the longest time, I thought I would associate Cautious Clay’s soulful R&B-meets-intimate pop with driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with salty hair after bombing a calculus exam over Zoom during lockdown. Little did I know I would find myself half a decade later, writing a review of his tour following the release of his deeply introspective album “The Hours: Morning” at a historic San Francisco institution pushing 100.
Cautious Clay’s performance threaded the theme of cyclical time and space throughout the duration of the show. A concert with an established theme elevates the experience. Anything from visual cues on the stage, crowdwork with guided questions or activities, extend the opportunity to ponder and interact with the sticky subtext of a song. It amplifies the sentiment of the album and guides conversation out the door as concert goers exit the venue (and they will proceed to talk about it to any person who will listen, in my case).
Cautious Clay and his band took to the 94-year-old stage at Bimbo’s 365 in Russian Hill with a clear understanding of this concept. His eight-track album, “The Hours: Morning,” chronicles the process of waking up hour-by-hour. Each track is labeled with a time stamp (e.g. 5 am, 6 am, etc). “I wanted to make something personal, but also make it something we’ve all kind of been through,” the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter told the audience.
The stage was certainly designed with that in mind. Wedged in the middle of the platform was a vintage grandfather clock with LED lights embedded under the glass. Throughout the show, a spotlight beam emerged from the clock and gradually circumambulated the stage, as if mimicking the passing of time. His outfit was also bejeweled with subtle nods to time. He walked onto the stage wearing a tank count with a large spiral, (a known symbol indicating cyclicality) accompanied by funky flare jeans featuring a button fly and pockets both at the waist and the bottom of the leg; as if to suggest there’s no way to know where they truly start or end.
Though the music on the album is highly produced, the instrumentation of the concert remained the traditional bass, guitar, and drums, along with the gaggle of instruments Cautious Clay picked up; a tenor saxophone, flute and tambourine. Eyes closed, brows furrowed and light glimmering the instruments, the band performed incredible, tasteful accompaniment and solo. The drummer and guitarist both frequently brandished several pieces of equipment: a metal slide, a yarn mallet and brushes gave the songs immense texture and the occasional head-bangability.
“Speaking of time passing, jetlag sucks,” he told the crowd. He explained he and his band haven’t toured in two years due to his desire to protect his artistic vision for his previous album, “Karpeh,” a 15-track collaboration with Bay Area-native singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq. The songs highlighted in his hour-and-a-half-long set ranged from features of the new album, a song on “The Hours: Night” that was released at midnight EST the night of the performance, as well as his classic sultry ballads.
“I don’t know if we got any mathematicians in the room tonight,” Cautious Clay retorted, “but there’s 24 hours in a day, so y’all do the math. There’s eight songs on “The Morning” and then there’s eight songs on “The Night”...I don’t know...anyway...you do the math...”
Well, if I did the math correctly, as I am a journalist and not in fact a mathematician, I cannot wait for the release of the three consecutive albums. This concert was an incredibly well done end to a successful tour.
- Yael Bright
