Warrior Soul @ Eddies, 26th March 2011
It has been a while since I have been to Eddies, and, admittedly, the last time I went it was on the other side of the road, but the draw of Warrior Soul was too much to resist.
Warrior Soul have had various personnel changes since their formation in the late ‘80’s, however, their one constant is the charismatic frontman Kory Clarke. The band, which now includes three members of Hate Gallery, take to the stage and launch into Superpower Dreamland minus Kory.
As the introduction continues Clarke appears in the crowd and is launched upon the stage by some obliging members of the audience, a very welcome rock’n’roll entrance which sets the scene for the evening’s events. Smashing headlong into Let’s Get Wasted, the audience gravitate towards the stage with a triumphant call to get high and wasted, and the closer to the stage you got, the better the overall mix sounded.
Kory, paying his respects to the local punk scene with his GBH t-shirt, still gives his all to the performance both physically and vocally, unleashing his rasping yet powerful melodies upon us all. Love Destruction’s driving riff demonstrates the tight unit that Warrior Soul are musically, with Rille Lundell and Johnny H’s guitar interplay layering throughout adding depth to the track live whilst Clarke spits out every word.
As the set proceeds, a number of classic tracks are unfettered, including the anthemic Punk and Belligerent. Noticeably Janne Jarvis’ bassline in both Punk and Belligerent and The Party provides a heaviness to the tracks, which has the venue throbbing and reiterates what a great album Salutations from the Ghetto Nation is.
All too soon the set draws to a close with the only down tempo song, Cities Scenes and Thieves, which sees an appreciative crowd, thankfully, draw the band back on stage for a blasting Intro/Interzone into an immense Downtown, followed by the politically charged Fuck The Pigs. By this point, Warrior Soul have the venue on side, the majority of whom are singing full pelt and after deflecting various cries for Charlie’s Out Of Prison, the band willingly indulge their fans but not enough to allow a rogue onlooker take Kory’s limelight.
From the opening of tonight’s set, it was clear that there is no real place for the slower paced tracks such as The Fall or Lullaby, as the mission is kick ass rock’n’roll. Unfortunately, I Love You didn’t make it onto the setlist, however, that isn’t much of a criticism, just a personal niggle, as the performance was fantastic; dirty, passionate rock. And in accordance with Clarke’s instructions I didn’t get high but I did get wasted, so mission accomplished.
Review – Toni Woodward