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Live review: Tyketto and Warrior Soul at 229, The Venue, London, Friday, April 17 2026
By STEVE MASCORD
TYKETTO seem like dozens of hair metal bands from the eighties – but in fact their entire recorded output is from 1991 onwards and they are undoubtedly enjoying a resurgence of popularity in Europe right now.
If we were going to take a stab at the reasons, one would be that singer Danny Vaughn appearing to be a Spanish resident, with Estapona in the south of the country recently claiming him in the local press as one of their own. The UK, Tyketto says on its socials, is the band’s “spiritual home”.
The second reason Tyketto are festival favourites and playing decent sized rooms like this 620-capacity venue at Great Portland Street is the undeniable popularity in this part of the world of melodic rock. In previous reviews I’ve attempted to describe how this scene has split off from what you might describe as hair metal and gone in a rather different direction.
If you think of Bon Jovi as a melodic rock band, then modern melodic rock has stripped away the muscular aspects of – say – “You Give Love A Bad Name” and instead focused on something like the softer songs on the These Days album. To me those are also the more forgettable songs – but more of that later.
First up (for me – I didn’t see Collateral) was Warrior Soul. I was going to say Kory Clarke’s outfit was the first political hair metal band – but who was the second? Maybe they’re the only political hair metal band.
Your reviewer was lucky enough to see Warrior Soul back in the early nineties in New York when there was a massive buzz about them, when Kory was on the cover of Kerrang! My recollections from then are that it was more about the vibe than the songs, that WS only had a handful of memorable tunes.
That’s reinforced during the first half of tonight’s show but after I return from collecting a mate at the door, things step up a notch.
“The Losers”, “Punk and Belligerent” and “The Wasteland” are among that handful of superior songs and it’s an impressive way to wind up Warrior Soul’s more-than-useful support slot. I’m glad I came. It’s punky, it’s glammy, it has social commentary.
Tyketto have some serious devotees here tonight – people who know every word from an album that’s only been out for three weeks. They open with “Rescue Me” off 1994’s Strength In Numbers. Vaughn is bouncing around stage with his flowing locks, Thunder’s Chris Childs is a familiar face on bass and the fresh-faced guitarist in front of me, Scott Elliott, looks like he could be Vaughn or Childs’ son.
And a large chunk of tonight’s materials from the post-grunge era, from when melodic rock was being reshaped away from from the corporate imperative to produced hits. For my taste, it’s too sacchurine, too cute, too smiley.
In introducing the title track from new album Closer To The Sun, Vaughan tells a story about girls from school who seemed unattainable. And that’s kind where Tyketto sit, really: in a world of 40 years ago that they’ve helpfully frozen for us to keep going back to.
This crowd is rapt but my mate, I’ve not seen him in a while. We make our way to the rear of the room and the up the stairs before Tyketto hat big hit of theirs – which unintentionally vindicates the last paragraph, perhaps – “Forever Young”. Maybe we just feel no longer young, that what we’re leaving behind is something we’ve outgrown.
READ AND HEAR INTERVIEWS WITH DOZENS OF ARTISTS VIA OUR PATREON PAGE. EAVESDROP AS WE CHAT TO THE BIGGEST NAMES IN ROCK AND METAL – FROM 1987 TO THE PRESENT!
Johnny Diesel and the Injectors
Johnny Diesel and the Injectors (1989)
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