Warrior Soul, The Fiascos and Bite Me Bring Music and Mayhem to The Dome!

Written by Louise Phillips on December 2, 2023

It was one hell of a line-up! With die-hard rockers ‘Warrior Soul’ at the top of the bill, down and dirty rock’n’rollers ‘The Fiascos’ as main support and all girl trashy punk rockers ‘Bite Me’ first on the bill and the audience were loving it!!

Despite Kory Clarke being the only original member of Warrior Soul gracing the stage tonight, they were tight as tight could be with the brilliant Christian Kimmet on Bass, Miguel Martins on guitar, Adam Arling on guitar and Ivan Tambac on drums, Clarke had an incredibly strong band by his side as he took to the stage Downstairs at The Dome as part of their tour, off the back of their latest record ‘Out on Bail’. Whilst Clarke has a powerful voice and was every inch the rockstar, his band proved to be the backbone of his performance and exceptional musicians who certainly earned the right to be on stage with the Warrior Soul legend. Clarke whilst belting out many of his hits, did not play ‘Wasteland’, the track from his album, ‘Drugs, God and the New Republic’, perhaps the song for which he is best known. He began his set with the Joy Division cover ‘Interzone’ with its signature guitar riffs and rocked up by Clarkes powerful vocals. ‘Generation Graveyard’ with its gritty vocals, pounding guitars and hammering drums was a definite highpoint of the set. ‘Punk and Belligerent’ with its driving guitars and Clarkes wailing vocals had the audience up and dancing whereas ‘Back on the Lash’ with its catchy guitar riffs was pure balls to the wall dirty rock’n’roll.

Whilst their earlier tracks such as ‘Charlie’s Out of Prison’ and ‘The Losers’ from Warriors Soul first album ‘Last Decade Dead Country’ were full of the politically driven lyrics for which he is so well known and loved, his newer material is far more hedonistic and more party focused. At times it was as if Clarke with whiskey bottle in hand, was almost like a caricature of himself leaping around the stage having one hell of a rock’n’roll party! Less the political maverick of his early days in Warrior Soul and more the pleasure seeking rock’n’roller! But if you thought Clarke may have mellowed in more recent years, today’s performance showed anything but, as it may be 30 years since he first ruffled those political feathers, but he’s still the down and dirty outspoken rocker that he always was!

But whilst Warrior Soul put on a great show, they were matched in performance by the excellent Fiascos, with the formidable Robin Guy on Drums and vocals, Keef Gibbs on guitar and vocals, Richie Hudson on guitar and vocals and Ben Lawson on Bass and vocals. They were an absolute triumph as they tore up the stage delivering track after track of filthy rock’n’roll, ridiculously catchy and incredibly radio friendly. Their track ‘Built for Speed’ with its swaggering guitar riffs, punchy basslines, melodic vocals and powerful drum beats was sensational and ‘Olivia’ with its crunching guitars and harmonic melodies was an absolute masterpiece! Surely this band must be on the way to big things! One of the unique things about The Fiascos is that each and every one of them is a vocalist within the band, something pretty much unheard of in a four piece!

First to the stage were ‘Bite Me’, fearless and unapologetic, with London King on vocals, Jessica Rush on drums, Ruby Rumsey on guitar and Estee on bass, they were an all-girl force of nature as they played a raucous set of hard and punchy tracks where King strutted around the stage commanding attention as she ripped through song after song! Their latest single ‘Deviant’ was fierce and exploding with energy, with fast and furious drums, wailing guitars, punchy baselines and Kings searing vocals. But the best track of their set had to be their closing tune, ‘B.I.T.E ME’, raw and punk as punk could be!!!

Words and photos by Louise Phillips

Photos of Warrior Soul