“I think we made history tonight,” Dirty Honey’s Marc Labelle drawls as their triumphant first UK headline show draws to a close. Indeed, as their only second date in the country with the previous day being at some festival called Download and the remainder of their dates in the UK as openers for Rival Sons as well as other European festivals alongside opening for KISS and Guns N’ Roses on their respective tours, their first visit across the Atlantic is set to be a memorable one.
Whilst several thousand waited for Biffy Clyro to close Download and inevitably tear it a new one like they did first time around in 2017, the discerning rock fans of Glasgow knew where they had to be that night – the Cathouse. Because of the day job, I was literally climbing those infamous stairs as the band took to the stage to raucous cheers and launched into “California Dreamin’” (I didn’t notice a support band on the stage times posted around the venue but if there was one, apologies for missing you!). And when greeted with the sea of heads in front of me, it was a night spent at the back, craning my head to get a decent view.
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However, by the time “Heartbreaker” had hit its chorus, it was forgotten about for one simple reason – there was an atmosphere that only happens every so often. A sense of magic in the atmosphere. The band knew it, the sardine-like crowd knew it. This was in the vein of The Temperance Movement’s first time at the Barras or the time The Virginmarys stole the show at the Bring Back Rock Radio night or, more recent but still some time ago, Anchor Lane’s G2 gig. As the band pull from some of the best parts of heritage names like Led Zeppelin, early Guns N’ Roses and early Aerosmith with a hint of AC/DC, it’s a reminder of when it’s done right – there’s no beating classic rock.
As bluesy moments give way for harder-edged moments, the music even sounds sun-drenched as if imported from their native California. The earworm of “Gypsy” sounds even more rough and ready in a live environment whilst “Scars” becomes beefier, darker and mature. Conscious of only having one 30 minute album and an EP, the band don’t cheat by throwing in a bunch of banter to draw out the length of the set. Intent to give the people their money’s worth, they give the crowd a choice of Prince or AC/DC cover, unsurprisingly, the latter wins with “Shoot to Thrill”. It makes for an interesting interpretation, given there’s only one guitar and having witnessed previous bands do similar, they make the lack of rhythm guitar work. Instead, it sounds much rawer and coupled with Labelle’s rough vocals, brings it more in line with a Bon Scott era sound. However, given their own sound, I would have been keen to hear how they’d tackle a song by The Purple One.
Bulking out the time also comes with Justin Smolian (bass), Corey Coverstone (drums) and John Notto (guitar) each taking time to solo on their respective instruments, each reconvening for a moment to jam before the next two depart for the next take their moment in the limelight. A more unique take to it but it still doesn’t make a drum solo interesting, sadly (sorry, I don’t make the rules).
It may be a Sunday night but that doesn’t stop the entire crowd being up for it as they sing (word perfect) and dance their way through the entire set. It’s a moment not lost on the band and shows the power this band has when even UK-based bands don’t have this kind of dedication, especially from the perspective of having never played on UK soil until the previous day. Not much encouragement is needed for the mandatory singalong moments and there’s no reliance on the faux “I didn’t hear you” nonsense. As the band perform as an incredibly tight unit with Notto’s guitar work mingles with the rhythm section of Smolian and Coverstone, they serve as a stark reminder that you must be an incredibly good band to justify only one guitar, which they manage comfortably.
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As the fervent crowd demand more, even after the farewell picture is taken, it’s clear that when Dirty Honey come back, with the momentum of all the opportunities they’ve had on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s a fair bet it’ll be to much larger rooms. Whilst Labelle addressing how special the evening has been doesn’t jinx it or sound arrogant, it does hamper it a touch, where if it’d been unspoken, would have actually said far more. However, there will always be a place and demand for classic rock and in the case of Dirty Honey, their recorded material alone showed they’re a class act but in the live environment, they’ve easily shown they’re the real deal.
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