Gig memories: Here's to The Losers

I went to see St Vincent again tonight (I'll post about that later) and while joking that Annie Clark might dedicate a song to me (perhaps Actor Out Of Work?) I was reminded that I did once have a song dedicated to me at a gig years ago, something I had completely and utterly forgotten.

Back in the 90s there was a punk-influenced metal band called Warrior Soul who released a really well reviewed debut album (in the rock press anyway, NME and the like would have probably hated them) called Last Decade Dead Century. Alternative music kind of washed them away along with a lot of long-haired metal bands but I went to see them play the legendary (and now no longer there) Astoria in 1993. Their most famous song was this tribute to the unwanted called The Losers, the chorus toasting "here's to the losers, the substance abusers, to the rejects, all the imperfects, cos I think we're beautiful, no matter what anyone says..." Corny stuff but kind of nice too. Before the show we met Warrior Soul's main man, the extremely long-haired Kory Clarke (a seriously nice guy) and I enthusiastically asked if he was going to play The Losers. "Aw, I don't know man, maybe" he said in that typical rock starish way. "Aw, go on, go on, go on," I said in my Mrs Doyle way. Well, later that night they DID play The Losers and before Kory kindly dedicated it to me, Sharon.

I don't know why but I had just completely forgotten this. I remember meeting Kory and I remember the show being full of white-trainered, stone-washed jeans metalheads but it wasn't until I was re-told the story that it all came flooding back and for some reason it really tickled me. The only dedication I've ever received at a rock concert, or am ever likely to get, is a song that goes "here's to the losers", dedicated to me by a half-forgotten 90s metal band. It was so tragic that we laughed until I had tears pouring from my eyes.

Well, here's to The Losers (me included). Thank you Kory Clarke for my one and only dedication.