Warrior Soul / Suicide Tuesday

One of the East Midlands' best kept secrets has got to be the Bar Seven Venue in Nottingham City Centre. Playing host to some incredible bands the venue is compact enough to ensure that your never more than fifty feet from an awesome view of the stage and within arms reach of the bar at the very same time. This said, tonight's bands are bumbling about the bars throughout the evening including Warrior Soul's charismatic frontman Kory Clarke, and part of my excuse for not having a full review of all four support bands! Meeting the petite Clarke is an experience not to be forgotten, a magnetic personality, ever the gentlemen and with more life than a classroom of five year olds, although considering his outspoken lyrics and political opinion its hard to ever imagine him being rude or offensive. And yet he still remaining every bit the rock star you always imagined he would be.

Tearing away for a short time to catch Suicide Tuesday, a band that in the last year have worked hard to ensure that every self respecting gig goer has either had the chance to see for themselves or have at least heard the rumours and in a short time have already supported some great names. More than anything Suicide Tuesday are the best opportunity to relive some of the best things of all the glam and sleaze of the last thirty years but with an updated twist added of their own. Momentarily reminded of early Guns n Roses, throbbing beats and sleazy anthems, 'Desperation' gave the room an unsteady heartbeat before finishing with an erratic erupting pulse for 'Wet and Wild'.

By the time the Intro played and Warrior Soul coyly graced the stage a larger crowd had gathered although nothing compared to what was when they toured with their debut and subsequent albums, still so surprising that they seem to have slipped back underground after having such a long career and such critical acclaim. There's an air of apprehension and almost nervousness as they prepare to bungee headfirst into 'Interzone' as though Clarke and Co are aware of how in awe their audience are. As a performer the vocalist becomes a torrent of energy, larger than life, barely pausing for air and not wasting any time he takes us on a whirlwind history of the Warrior Soul catalogue.

The crowd are no longer able to contain their excitement and the whole room is alive, chanting religiously every word to obvious favourites 'Punk and Belligerent' and 'Last Decade, Dead Century'. The band play to perfection, clearly loving every minute - but its over far too soon, a set less than an hour with a band that could and who it seemed wanted to go on forever. With a new album imminent this is not the likely to be the last we see of Warrior Soul.

FUTURE GIGS