Live Review: Tyketto - Wolverhampton
21st September 2024
Support: Little Caesar, Dan Byrne
Words & Photos: Scott Clarke
Here’s a turn out for the books, a week removed from golden sunlight cascading down the walls of KK’s, here we are wrapped up in warm clothes and with the impending forecast of heavy rain and thunderstorms. But the weather was not to put a dampener on tonights events as the crowds showed who gathered patiently.
It’s not often it happens to me but tonight sees me venturing out to the great halls of KK’s Steel Mill, to view a show, two thirds of which I’ve had the pleasure of seeing many times before. Nevertheless it is an evening that promises to be both familiar and yet entirely captivating and entertaining, with the legendary Tyketto leading things with accompaniment from Little Caesar and Dan Byrne.
Kicking things off tonight we have an introduction from the voice of Planet Rock himself, Paul Anthony. His appearance on stage got a cheer from the crowd and he promised us a great evening as he set the stage for the first act of the night, Dan Byrne.
With trademark wide brimmed hat, former Revival Black frontman, Dan Byrne, enters the stage, here taking matters into his own hands with his solo set. Unlike previous times I’ve seen his solo performances, Dan this time out is accompanied by a complete band, it’s a sign how he is developing and moving his own material into the spotlight.
I’ve seen Dan performing many times, fronting other bands as well as with his solo stuff where it was just him on stage with an acoustic guitar. He’s a humble guy, very friendly to converse with and usually hangs around meeting and greeting with fans yet every time he hits the stage, his persona manages to fill the stage and as his amazing voice echoes around the room, it’s able to captivate the crowd in an almost hypnotic fashion.
This time out its a new setlist for Dan than I’ve seen before, which is a welcome thing and, although it’s only a short set, it does well in delivering mostly his own material from his record, Beginnings and setting the stage for his own projects whereas in the past he has included a few of his own tracks and several covers or leant into the Revival Black songs. Here we see Dan as Dan, his own persona and it’s a great thing.
Opening with Hard to Breathe, a hard yet slower paced, more deliberate track that through the verse and into the chorus gradually ramps up Dan’s pipes, is a great warm up and eases the crowd into the night. The catchy Control is next as one of the few tracks of the evening that I have seen him perform before but it’s given a whole new dynamic with a full band and makes it sound like a totally new song. A new track in Hate Me follows and it’s worth pointing out that Dan has really developed in stage presence, previously his voice has been the commanding factor on stage, but he has definitely become more confident in his on stage persona.
Easier, Like Animals and Death of Me, round out the Beginnings EP representation. It’s a triumphant end to the short set that entertained the crowd, won over fans and cemented Dan as his own independent entity with promise of more to come.
Little Caesar, renowned and well loved, they’ve been around for so many years and yet this is the one third of tonight I’ve never seen before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Founding front man, lead singer Ron Young, who formed the band in the late 80’s, comes to KK’s stage tonight along with Tom Morris on drums and Loren Molinare on guitar, all 3 of them original members, joining up with Mark Tremalgia and Pharoah Barrett on guitar and bass duties respectively.
The band should have been more successful back in the day, however it was the turn of the decade and the rise of grunge and alternative rock that spelled trouble for so many great rock bands of the day. After a long hiatus and with Ron going on to provide his vocals with several other bands along the way, Little Caesar reformed in 2001 and have since released a further 3 albums as well as playing Download, talk about a second wind. But it also shows that it’s such a shame that back then, so many great bands went under the radar, mostly due to record labels and publishers wanting to push whatever was the in thing at the time. These days, although it’s still a difficult thing, there are so many avenues to explore to get music out there and so many more people who are able to engage and are willing to go away from the norm in order to seek out and find these artists, with determination, it is possible to get your stuff out there and not be immediately buried based on genre, class or what is the in thing.
As the band take the stage to rapturous cheers I have to admit that being unfamiliar with the bands material I was a blank slate and had no expectations or idea of what I was going to hear.
From the get go, Ron’s raw vocals on Piece of the Action and the familiarity of that style of sound from the band take me back in time. There was an era with this style of rock that you could pretty much pick up a record and knew before listening to it that it was going to be a good one, I include tonights headliners, Tyketto amongst them as well. With clear vocals, catchy riffs and hard driving, foot tapping rhythm, they’re the kind of timeless songs that still sound great today.
Although there were a few technical difficulties tonight with guitars acting up and losing a pedal board, it was a solid performance by professionals who showed their gratitude to the welcoming fans and soldiered on with a smile. Ron at one point acknowledging that it was on them to make the crowd feel good and hoped everyone was having a good time. With a 14 track set continuing with Rock n Roll State of Mind, American Dream, 21 Again, Hard Times, Wrong Side of the Tracks, Rum and Coke, the most famous of tracks Chain of Fools, Cajun Panther (which bought on stage Danny Vaughn to showcase his harmonica skills), Real Rock Drive, Down to the Wire, Mama Tried and Drive it Home. Although it primarily focused on material from the first album, it was a well crafted set that spanned their entire album catalogue and saw some representation from every album.
It’s a feature packed and lengthy set, which took me by surprise and reminds me of the last time I saw Tyketto when they performed with FM and Dare, on that tour it saw all 3 bands perform lengthy sets and swap places as headliners at different venues over the course of the tour. Little Caesar have not been relegated to a support slot but have been given their own ample time to shine and its a great thing.
Finally for this evening, after much anticipation, the moment everyone had been waiting for as the lights dimmed once more and the sounds of the crowd reaching intense levels ushered on Chris Childs, Ged Rylands, Johnny Dee and Harry Scott Elliott, it was the opening of Nothing but Love that saw the lead man himself Danny Vaughn bound onto the stage in his usual age defying self. Suitable in that the adoring crowd had nothing but love on display for this band. It’s difficult sometimes to remember just how long Tyketto have been at the top of their game and here they are still going strong with no signs of slowing down.
The next track on the night was Reach. In a surprise for me, the setlist was a bit of a change up from what I’ve seen before, although still with a considerable number of tracks from Don’t Come Easy as expected, there was also a significant number of tracks from Reach, their 2016 release. As the last time I saw Tyketto on their own tour they did the Strength in Numbers anniversary tour, the change up was a welcome one as it gave more focus to tracks that don’t always get picked on a setlist, a fact that Danny himself pointed out.
Wings, Tearing Down the Sky and Dig in Deep showcase the versatility of the groups style and relative newcomer to the band, Harry on the guitar proved that he can not only turn his hand to anything but actually excels in the variation in styles that compose the inspired riffs.
Rescue Me, one of few tracks from the Strength in Numbers album leads us back into Reach with Circle the Wagons. Throughout the night Danny Vaughn reaches for his acoustic guitar to add another dynamic to the band and we also have Ged pulling multiple duty, sometimes away from his traditional keys and behind a guitar instead.
All night the musicianship on display is tight and faultless and leads to such a well oiled machine. Danny’s vocals especially are soaring and powerful, his range and the smooth tones to his voice are as good as ever tonight, I’ll put it down in black and white that I genuinely think he has one of the greatest voices, and not just in rock, the variation in Tyketto’s styles from hard rock to slow ballads give him a stage to showcase his dynamic range and he never fails to impress. You go in expecting it to be good but are still blown away by just how good.
Catch my Fall and Kick Like a Mule follow before we go back to the album that started it all with Seasons and Standing Alone sandwiching The Run from Reach.
Its another well crafted setlist overall as we a constantly bouncing all night from eras in time, from the initial outset of the band to the most recent release, all the while intermixing tales and stories from Danny. The thing is it is done with ease and with no jarring differences in sound styles. Tyketto are very much a band that have remained consistent to their themes and although there are some variation and influences in styles, any of their songs would easily do well on any of their albums and still fit in nicely, as is evident with this style of setlist.
As we come to the close of the set, it’s again worth mentioning that the love for the fans and that which is reciprocated to the band is on show all night long. They have always been the same, in all the years I’ve seen Tyketto and I think that is one of their endearing qualities and a reason why they have such a loyal fan base. In a world where there are so many acts willing to provide lip service in order to garner fame and fortune, Tyketto have always remained genuine and dedicated to their fans, Danny Vaughn is such a humble and genuine person and it embodies every member of the group who are equally down to earth and approachable, the fact that they are also so darn good at what they do just rounds out a great set of guys who when you see their name on a set, you know you’re going to be in for a good night.
The Last Sunset is a fitting close out to the show followed by the necessity that is the anthem and fan favourite Forever Young, a song that can never be over played as every time you hear it, you realise what a banger it is.
Tyketto are a band that I have seen as a photographer, a reviewer and as a fan, more times than I can count, I’ve been there for so many years and literally own the t-shirt which I was rocking tonight, yet every single time I’ve been around them, Danny Vaughn has always been a true gentleman and a wonderful entertainer. Forever grateful, forever appreciative, forever humble and with classic tracks that, like the always welcome closing number, will always be Forever Young.
Photo credits: Scott Clarke Photography
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