Gig review: TYKETTO- 229 Club, London, 17 April 2026

April 20th, 2026 by andynathan

As frontman and founding member Danny Vaughn proudly boasted from the stage, Tyketto’s profile has unexpectedly increased some 35 years after their classic ‘Don’t Come Easy’ debut, with a European tour with Black Star Riders and a Masters of Rock cruise scheduled.

In all that time though the UK has been their happiest hunting ground (and a recruiting ground for a band where Brits now outnumber Americans three to two), so it was no surprise to see a healthy crowd at the 229 venue for the London leg of an extensive tour, with a first new album to promote in nearly a decade, the truly excellent ‘Closer to the Sun’.

There were two support acts in tow starting with Collateral who have been on many similar bills over the past few years. They certainly had a lot of their own fans present and yet going on stage within 15 minutes of the doors opening, many were still filing in as they opened with ‘No Place for Love’, exploding into life with an AOR worthy chorus hook and ‘Glass Sky’, the band (now with a new drummer in Charlie Southard) showing how they have developed and become more musically interesting.

There is a Tyketto connection as charismatic singer Angelo Tristan reminded us Danny Vaughn had guested on ‘Midnight Queen’ when they re-recorded their first album, and the song with it’s mix of acoustic and electric guitar is plainly Tyketto influenced.

For me the highlight of the set was the elegiac ballad ‘On The Long Road’, reminding me of Bryan Adams’ ‘Heaven’, and with a tasteful solo from Louis Malagodi, unshowy but highly effective on guitar. Half an hour rattled by as they finished with a couple of more out and out rockers from their debut in ‘Merry Go Round’ and ’Mr Big Shot’. It whetted my appetite to see a longer set before too long.

But the main support Warrior Soul appeared on the face of it unusual bedfellows on the bill. They share with Tyketto New York origins and a recording career that has stood the test of time since the early nineties, but fewer musical similarities. The amps appeared to have been turned up to 12, and a line up with three guitarists created an energetic and almost punkish wall of sound on the likes of ‘Love Destruction’ and ‘Love is the Drug’.

Kory Clarke was perhaps the largest than life of the three extrovert, hirsute frontmen of the evening – sporting shades, a spangly jacket and fringed trousers, with stage moves pitched between Axl Rose and Iggy Pop. I have always struggled to cope though with his rough-edged voice which even when speaking had a chainsmoker’s type rasp to it.

There were also agit prop numbers like ‘The Party’, with its feedback strewn guitar solo and drawing comparisons somewhere between early Alice Cooper and Rage Against the Machine, and ‘The Fourth Reich’, both with political messages written many years ago and yet of fresh relevance today.

‘The Losers’ was more commercial and had an excellent guitar solo, even if Kory’s vocals lacked the same smoothness, and I found myself enjoying the one song of theirs I really remember from the old days in ‘The Wasteland’, which got a bit of a clap along going.

Other than those two, being firmly of a softer musical persuasion, your melodic rock editor cannot pretend that he enjoyed the set. However, judging from a straw poll of t-shirts on view and the chatter overheard in the gents, there were plenty who did, which is all that matters.

The band members of Tyketto took the stage before Danny Vaughn rushed in from the wings, competing with Kory Clarke in the fashion stakes in a black coat. Despite having their first album in ten years to promote- a fact which made him promise to record company folk present the next one wouldn’t be so long!- the show started in reassuringly familiar fashion.

‘Rescue Me’ was followed by a pair from the holy trinity of the songs that open up ‘Don’t Come Easy’. ‘Wings’ boasted massive hooks and ‘who-oahs’ even after the chorus, and on the majestic ‘Burning Down Inside’, thankfully restored after being omitted from the last full UK tour, the 64 year old held some impressive long notes. On both numbers guitarist Harry Scott Elliott (another to join the unofficial hair contest of the evening!) excelled with the effortless fluency of his playing.

The first new number in ‘Higher Than High’ had a bit of a bluesy feel, especially in the organ solo of the versatile Ged Rylands which segued into a guitar solo, and a touch of harmonica playing from Danny. After ‘Strength in Numbers’ was dedicated to the loyalty of their fans, the title track of previous album ‘Reach’ featured the classic Tyketto sound where electric and Danny’s acoustic guitar work together, while helped by some fine backing vocals, especially from Ged, the title track of the new album soared majestically. It was at moments like this that I appreciated what a skilled band of players are currently taking forward the Tyketto name, and that at times their mix of muscle, melody and intelligent arrangements was reminding me of peak UFO, one of the ultimate compliments in my book.

While too many bands only play the material that made them famous, the new album and nothing in between, ‘Reach’ was still represented with the tale of Danny’s Vietnam veteran relative in ‘The Run’ and ‘Circle the Wagons’, with a mass communal arm waving. Fists too were punching to new song ‘We Rise’ which Danny hoped fans would turn into an anthem.

A cheeky snatch of Tears for Fears ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ led into another debut classic with the trademark Tyketto sound in ‘Seasons’, before their cover of Roxette’s ‘Harleys and Indians’. It was one of my less favourite songs, yet still went down well and was niftily brought to a close by a spectacular harmonica solo by Danny.

It was back to a couple of contrasting classics in ‘Standing Alone’, a classic ballad not just musically but lyrically, and one over which Danny expressed his pride at writing a song that had meant so much to people; and the grooves of ‘Lay Your Body Down’, featuring band intros and a little solo slot for Chris Childs to showcase his bass playing which had been quality all night.

His between song chat all night had been full of pearls of acquired wisdom to the extent that when the music stops an alternative career as a motivational speaker beckons. Prior to closing with another new song in ‘The Brave’, he brought added meaning by describing how it was written in tribute to heroes who kept our communities going during Covid. Not only did I chuckle at this American anglophile’s reference to ‘Tesco’s’, but I cheered as he silenced one of the many people chuntering over him with a ‘be quiet dude, I’m talking!’.

With a tight curfew, a set of well over 90 minutes only had room for one encore, but a fitting and inevitable one in ‘Forever Young’, one of melodic rock’s best ever anthems, even if people’s bodies (if not minds) are definitely not as young as when it emerged 35 years ago. But it was how good the present day Tyketto are that was my enduring memory of this marvellous evening.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 13 April 2026

DOGMA Fate Unblinds (MNRK Heavy)
SEVENDUST Threshold (Napalm Records)
OH HIROSHIMA Broken Sunlight (Pelagic Records)
HARSH Back To Life (Fireflash Records)
KING KRAKEN Call To War (indie)
HIGHWAY QUEEN Bring Me Home Tonight (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 13 April 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

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