Warrior Soul @ Dudley JB’s – 13th April 2008

Warrior Soul are like Marmite, you either really love them or your hate them. In all honesty, the majority of the population are in the latter category; however, I am one of the rare few that think they are fantastic. This ability to divide opinion means that Warrior Soul gigs tend to draw only avid, if not slightly obsessive, fans, who usually know every single word to every single song. Warrior Soul started in New York in the late ‘80’s, they were signed to Geffen records and released four albums during the early 1990’s before parting company with the record label. This split did not deter Warrior Soul, who proceeded to release a further two albums, yet never making it big despite supporting Metallica at Donington in 1995. Their present line-up contains only one original member, the charismatic front man, Kory Clarke, who, for many, is the essence of Warrior Soul.

Last night’s gig at Dudley JBs, which you have to love as a venue because it still sells Scampi Fries behind the bar and inflatable sheep from a vending machine in the toilets, was a warm up show in preparation for Camden Underworld tonight, where Warrior Soul are intending to play ‘Last Decade, Dead Century’ in its entirety. Unfortunately, ‘The Stoned’, the support act, had to pull out so it is left to Warrior Soul, themselves, to kick the crowd into action. The band rose to the challenge admirably, starting with an elongated version of ‘Intro’ taken from the album ‘Drugs, God and the New Republic’. Kory Clarke runs onto stage, wearing sunglasses and a denim fringed jacket like a true rock star, and instantly engages the crowd with his shouts of “We are the government!” The next few tracks continued to hit me like a sledgehammer, particularly ‘Love Destruction’ and ‘Punk and Belligerent’, and I just couldn’t resist the urge to rock. This power was enhanced by Kory’s infectious rock poses, which must be any photographer’s dream, and his dramatic interpretation of the lyrics, which caused him to unplug his microphone mid-song. The band were much tighter as a group than they had been when I saw them in October, unfortunately, Kory was struggling with his vocals due to a sore throat. Nowadays, for many artists, a slight tickle in the tonsil region is enough to pull a gig, but not Kory; he ploughed on, giving it everything, just singing an octave lower at certain points.

We were treated to a preview of tonight’s show, when Warrior Soul play the first five tracks, in order, from ‘Last Decade, Dead Century’, all of which remind you what a bloody great album it is. Throughout ‘We Cry Out’, guitarist, Johnny H, was giving helpful prompts to the new bassist, Janne Jarvis, when to sing back-up vocals; however, this did not detract from the song but emphasised the camaraderie between the band members. ‘The Losers’ is a dark, commanding ballad that can’t fail to affect your emotions followed by the heaviness of ‘Downtown’ and the upbeat melody of ‘Trippin’ on Ecstasy’. Warrior Soul continued to blast their way through a selection of back catalogue tracks including ‘No, No, No’ and ‘Lullaby’. It finished with ‘Wasteland’, in which Kory noticeably changed the lyric of President to Prime Minister in order to suit his British audience, followed typically by his final rendition of “We are Warrior Soul!” The set seemed to end all too quickly for my liking, but then again, I would happily watch Warrior Soul play every track they have ever written, but that is the slightly obsessive tendency coming out again!

Review – Toni Woodward
Photos – Steve Gerrard

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