Concert preview: Crobot provides a ‘Dirty. Groove. Rock.’ preface for Motörheadliners

Metalheads will, of course, turn out en masse for Motörhead's headlining set at The Complex in Salt Lake City this coming Thursday. And die-hard aficionados of the new wave of British heavy metal are likely willing to show up a bit early for second act Saxon.

But no one bothers with opening acts these days, right?

And just who is Crobot, anyway?

Well, since you asked, if you take Black Sabbath's heavy sludge, Led Zeppelin's free-wheeling blues, Rainbow's mystical fantasies, Clutch's caustic groove, Soundgarden's dark wail, Rage Against the Machine's sharp-edged energy, James Brown's manic showmanship, Funkadelic's, well, funk, and you dress it all up in one of Prince's ruffled blouses …

Yeah, that's basically Crobot.

"If you like dirty rock, if you like sweaty blues, if you like funky sludge, I think you'll like what we're throwing down," lead singer Brandon Yeagley said in a phone interview.

The Pennsylvania-based quartet have plenty of experience being a tour's third wheel, having spent a chunk of this year opening for Danish rockers Volbeat and '80s metal icons Anthrax ("All legends in their own right," Yeagley noted). And they are beyond pleased to get this gig — "Motörhead, on its own, is just … wow! I really don't have the words to describe how ecstatic we are for hopping on the road with those legends. Lemmy [Kilmister] is just … Lemmy is God! It's as simple as that." But they have aspirations of moving up the bill, of being the top name on the marquee before too long.

Between their music and their performances, they may just pull it off.

Crobot's debut album, "Something Supernatural," came out this past October and showcased a style that's a bit of a throwback to 1970s-style metal psychedelia.

"We try to describe it in three words: 'Dirty. Groove. Rock.' At our core, we're all three of those things. It's gonna be dirty, it's gonna be fuzzy, it's gonna be gritty. We try to maintain the funk and sludge all at the same time," Yeagley said. "We just wanted to be completely raw and organic and not try to force anything — I think that's the mission statement of this band, really, just to do what we do and not think about it too much."

The album was helmed by the producer known as Machine, who's worked with metal groups (Lamb of God, Chiodos, Clutch) and popsters (Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship) and deftly blended elements of each here. The opportunity for the perfect pairing, Yeagley said, was a bit of serendipity.

"The way we met Machine was just a crazy occurrence," he said. "We played South By Southwest about three years ago, and we were just inking the deal with Wind-up [Records], so they were throwing us on a showcase that they were having in Austin. Being an East Coast boy, the Machine had all of his alarms for his important shows to check out set on Eastern Time. So once he got to Austin, all of his alarms were set to the wrong times. Luckily for us, he accidentally caught our set. He was supposed to be there for the band that was after us. He came and saw our set accidentally, and as soon as we came down offstage, he approached us and said, 'I don't know who you guys are, I don't know if you're even signed, if you have management, whatever — I want to work with you guys.' "

And now, the band is looking to show off the music at every opportunity: joining the tours of a half-dozen bands or so in 2014, playing festivals like SXSW and Rock On the Range, tagging along with Black Label Society for some European dates, going across the U.S. and Canada with Volbeat and Anthrax earlier this year, and now, hooking up with Motörhead for shows in the States, the U.K. and Europe again.

"Our hearts and souls are out on the road. We take about three days when we get some time at home, and that's about enough. We start to get the itch on the fourth day," Yeagley said. "It's definitely what we do and what we love most about all this."

Far more often than not, it seems, fans come away impressed.

A big part of that is Yeagley's whirling dervishness, a complete inability to stand still, an ADHD-like compulsion to move — all of which infuses an already compelling set with complementary energy.

"You know, it's just possession, I think. What it all boils down to is just possession [by] the music. It's where it takes us — it's not choreographed up there," Yeagley said. "I have a tattoo of James Brown on my good foot, so … I can look down and it reminds me of 'The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,' and it puts a little pep in my step, if you will. But that's just what it boils down to, is we're four dudes who love playing music and we're fans at heart, so we just try our best to give the best show that we can every night."

Just maybe all that is enough to persuade you to show up for an opening act.

ewalden@sltrib.com

Twitter: @esotericwalden

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Motörhead, Saxon and Crobot

When • Thursday, Aug. 27; doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7:30

Where • The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $35 advance, $40 day of; Smith's Tix, showclix.com