Manchester Club Academy – 25/01/2023
After seeing and chatting to Dirty Honey last year, when I heard they were doing a headline tour of the U.K. this month, I had to see them. The tour was a sell out, the venue was changed last minute to accommodate more people and this was going to be one of those gigs that will stay with you for a long time.
After a great opening set from Himalayas, a band who I wasn’t familiar with at all and who I will definitely be listening to more of, it was getting close to the 9pm start time and the venue was already packed. 9pm came and went, anticipation was building and finally a 9.20, the lights dimmed and the band entered the stage. The packed club erupting into a cheer as Marc Labelle and John Notty entered the stage. Technical difficulties or rock and roll antics, a La GNR, you decide, but what followed was a true rock and roll show.
The packed club academy was hot, so hot in fact that by the fourth song the band were even commenting on the heat. You hear stories about bands of yesteryear playing the pokey Little Rock clubs and the sweat was dripping down the wall and how amazing it was, well in thirty years time, I’ll be telling that story about seeing Dirty Honey in Manchester. These guys certainly know how to put on a show.
Straight out the gate, this band hit the ground running. Marc’s vocals were even better than the record. John Notto is a man who knows how to play guitar and the band is completed by bassist Justin Smolian and new drummer Jaydon Bean.
Opening with ‘Gypsy’ this band possessed rock and roll swagger in bucketfuls, the kind of swagger that early GNR had or Aerosmith, in fact the onstage camaraderie of Marc and John was very reminiscent of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry – the way they sang, almost intertwined at some points as one!
The Wire and Tied Up are both early highlights in the set and the then the first of two covers kicks in, Aerosmith’s Last Child. Being completely honest, I was so wrapped up in the moment, they got half way through before I even realised that the song wasn’t theirs! They made it completely their own. The set rocketed on, with a second cover, this time Prince’s ‘Let’s go Crazy’ being completely slowed down and turned into a blues rock gem. Again a song that the band completely made their own.
We heard a new song, ‘Ride On’, from an as yet unannounced second album, another belter, I loved the guitar tone in this one especially, echoing early AC/DC a little I thought. Another head banging belter from Dirty Honey and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the next album.
I have to talk about Marc Labelle and his incredible set of pipes. If you take the best qualities of Bon Scott, Steven Tyler and Axl Rose and combine them to for one voice, that is Marc’s voice. He is truly exceptional! I heard one lady at the end of the gig saying he could even take Glenn Hughes’ crown as the new ‘voice of rock’! Yep. That good.
And John Notto is an incredible guitarist, he doesn’t feel the need to go over the top, there are no guitar acrobatics or flourishes, he is not the flamboyant show off that many lead guitarists are these days, he just does it and my god, what a sound! Amazing
The show finished all too soon, the last few songs were definite crowd pleasers. I’m California Dreamin’ Marc thanked the crowd for making a band from LA feel so at home in the U.K. and then the final song, Rolling 7s came to an end and that was it.
I witnessed a mighty fine night of rock and roll and I Will remember that gig for a long time. This is a band who are destined for great heights, there’s a second album on the way and I don’t think we’ll be seeing them in many more small venues like the club academy. These guys are destined to be the next big stadium rock band and in forty years when they’re the biggest band in the world, playing six consecutive nights at Wembley, I can tell my grandkids ‘I was there at the beginning!’
