Tom Clarke
Former Enemy man Tom Clarke was back at The Arts Club, Getintothis’ Amos Wynn was there to catch the former Enemy singer in action.
With The Enemy, Clarke enjoyed considerable success, from supporting Oasis at Wembley to selling out two nights at Coventry‘s Ricoh Arena.
After that the band received mixed reviews on later albums and before splitting in 2016, with the three-piece going their separate ways after a farewell tour.
But last year, to celebrate ten years since the band’s debut album, We’ll Live and Die in These Towns, Clarke embarked on a solo acoustic tour performing their early tracks.
He has continued that this year, with the Arts Club being his Liverpool stop off, his last show as an unmarried man.
These acoustic shows are a million miles away from selling out two nights at a football stadium, with Clarke‘s career coming full circle returning to venues he would’ve played on The Enemy‘s rise to success.
But none the less it was clear to see what the Coventry band meant to the fans who came to the Arts Club.
The night also demonstrated why The Enemy‘s debut album was so popular, with excellent acoustic reworks of a brilliant set of tracks.
He began with the powerful Aggro and Away From Here. This was an immense start to the evening, it was hard to believe that only two acoustic guitars and a key board was creating such a big sound.
Clarke sung these songs like he was back in 2007, with the same meaning and passion as the original recording.
The Enemy certainly mastered the terrace chant type song, with the crowd shouting the lyrics to every song back at Clarke.
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A stand out song of the evening was We’ll Live and Die In These Towns, the lyrics sound as fresh as ever and the passion for the track was loved.
He noted how ‘fucking amazing‘ The Arts club is and how every time he plays there he writes new tunes.
He treated fans to some of his new material. With potential plans for him to head back into the studio, perhaps this could mark the start of something bigger for the vocalist.
Towards the end Clarke joked he wouldn’t be doing the ‘pantomime‘ exit of leaving the stage before an encore.
He finished his set with a song that had been chanted by fans all through the night, This Song.
He was joined on stage by support act, Joe Dolman, as Clarke finished the night in emphatic style with a stunning rendition of this song.
Chants of This Song Is About You continued well after Clarke left the stage, with fans still in full voice to the song after they’d left the Arts Club, cheering on the street.
Supporting Clarke was Grace Ackerman and previously mentioned Joe Dolman, providing get great acoustic tracks for fans to enjoy, with some covers also chucked in the mix.
It’s unknown what’s next for Clarke. With new songs on the cards is his plan to climb the ladder once again? Or will he continue to play The Enemy classics. Either way he has a passionate backing of fans behind who’ll back whatever he does next.
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