Live Photos and Gig Review Credit: Anna Zurek
On a Saturday in the middle of October, Kory Clarke hit the stage at The Islington, London, for an intimate gig that would cast a spell over the crowd straight away.
The venue was inside a pub, so to enter you had to go past a curtain that separated both into a medium sized room with a stage that was set very close to the crowd. This together with the stage set up as in red curtains at the back and the lighting added to a very secretive and personal atmosphere.
Once Kory Clarke and his band entered the stage to blast out tunes from his newest record “Payback’s A Bitch”, the crowd’s response was one of excitement with people throwing their hands in the air following Kory’s lead, dancing along and hanging onto his lips to sing along with him. During one song I even caught two guys in the audience cheering along and throwing big smiles at each other, clearly having a blast.
The crowd’s reaction wasn’t surprising giving the fact that Kory’s new album is extremely diversified and filled with many catchy songs – something which turned out to be even more amazing live together with Kory’s entertaining performance as a frontman. At times it might have even reminded a bit of Mick Jagger but with a punkish edge to it – a lot of dramatic moves, a captivating presence and kick-ass attitude. Add a few stories to that like the one he told right before “Fuck The Pigs” about how the police stopped their truck because of too much weight funnily drawing a comparison and calling them “Ryan Air of police” and you get all the ingredients for a great gig.
Going back to the diversity of his songs, if you took a closer look at the crowd you would have seen it reflected in there with all kinds of people enjoying the gig, the occasional rockers, quite a lot of girls and definitely all age groups just to name a few. Even Kory noticed and mentioned their great energy and got a fan shouting “Great motherfucking Clarke!”. And to top it all of, once the set was over, the crowd shouted and begged for an encore which happens quite rarely in venues that size and of course the band entered the stage again to end that night with some more great songs.
All in all, seeing Kory Clarke live is a great experience of its own. Like that secret underground gig with an underlying punkish and rebellious spirit. Something so captivating that it felt like Kory’s energy rubbed off onto the crowd and lead to a gig that’s worth being on your future to-attend gig list again.
To make it easier for you to stay up-to-date on future tour dates, follow Kory Clarke on Facebook as well as Twitter (@koryclarkemusic) or visit his official website. Also don’t forget to check out his album “Payback’s A Bitch” that can be purchased via Amazon, iTunes or streamed on Spotify. And don’t forget to check out our album review here, I know you want to.
Kory Clarke
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