Dirty Rig

While this cramped, dingy club might be full of many seasoned veterans of the original Donington Festival, nothing played here tonight is from the past. With their ex-Warrior Soul frontman, Kory Clarke, *Dirty Rig *are as rambunctious as they are well-oiled, while their balls-to-the-floor, punk ‘n’ roll is a straight up knuckleduster of raw energy.

Clarke was always a diminutive livewire of a singer and point blank refuses to stand still here. While his weathered voice and appearance have clearly suffered the toils of the road, the drink and the drugs, there is not a single person in here that would dare to dream of suggesting he was past it. This kind of star never dies. With the vast majority of their set taken from their stomping recent album Rock Did It, they are preaching new sermons to the already converted. With fists in the air and mullets trailing the bar, the crowd lap up every last word.

You can bet, after this reception, that Dirty Rig will be back. You can also bet that whatever they do next won’t be the cleverest thing you’ll have heard, but you’ll rarely hear it done better.