Live Review : Dirty Honey + The Heavy North @ Academy 2, Manchester on February 8th 2024

Liverpool’s The Heavy North are a little crowded on the Academy 2 stage tonight. Squeezed in front of Dirty Honey’s drum riser, they are shoulder-to-shoulder and it’s a good job they’ve not brought any cats as there’s no space to swing them. Drums, 3 guitars, bass and keyboards make for a full sound but also a very full stage.

Soundwise they are bluesy, with the first song having more than a whiff of Led Zeppelin about it. There’s also a more modern twist though, and as the set goes on they stray in the direction of noughties indie icons Franz Ferdinand and their ilk. So a bit outside the norm, and how refreshing it is to find a band from Liverpool who don’t want to be The Beatles! With an EP and 2 albums under their collective belts they manage to easily fill their half-hour slot, and the crowd visibly warms to them as the songs sail past. There’s a bit of harmonica thrown in, and a bit of crowd participation. They are good, but for me at least not special. Just when I think I have them pigeonholed though they throw me a curveball. The final song starts with a riffy nod to Kiss’s ‘Detroit Rock City’ then segues into Led Zep’s ‘Dazed and Confused’ which was a little unexpected and perked me right up! They leave the stage wishing us a boss night, and suitably warmed up for our headliners.

Dirty Honey is an evocative kind of name. The band are a new one to me and I’m not familiar with their work, so I can’t help hoping they live up to that name. Smooth, oozing but just a little bit sleazy and gritty? If they can do that I’ll be well happy!

Certainly on first appearances they seem to be right up my street. The intro tape is AC/DC’s ‘Rock & Roll Damnation’ and the band hit the stage with a burst of energy and enthusiasm that is instantly engaging. They look like 70’s Black Sabbath, but happily they sound like Aerosmith. Indeed, although I find several other references as the set goes on that comparison to Boston’s finest never quite goes away. This is not a copycat band though, although their influences are clear the sound is all their own.

The first song is the title track from their most recent album “Can’t Find The Brakes” and it has all the sass, all the swagger of late 70s sleaze rock. They follow this with ‘California Dreamin’’ (no, not that one!) which is an upbeat, happy summertime song that makes me long to be on a beach. There are guitar solos a-plenty, this lad can play! Ther crowd response is immense, and as they throw ‘Heartbreaker’ (no, not that one!) at us the room is bouncing. Dirty Honey may be influenced by 70’s rock, but they have also re-invented it. They have taken elements of all those bands we loved and dragged them kicking and screaming into the modern age..

Occasionally they stray into instrumental territory and the sound touches on prog, but it’s a fleeting thing and they are soon back to the high-energy blues rock that I am starting to love. “Tied Up” is funky and fun, the sort of song that picks you up and twirls you around. My toes are tapping and my hips are swaying as the music carries me on a wave of euphoria. The mood then changes completely as the acoustics come out and we get the soulful ballad ‘Coming Home’. I was expecting lighters and waving arms but the crowd instead is rapt, standing open-mouthed in awe at the raw emotion. The harmonies are spot-on, and as ballads go this one was a bit of a banger. So when the next song was a funked-up but still acoustic cover of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Honky Tonk Women’ I was thrown off-kilter again. Whoever imagined you could do that song in bluegrass? Well, Dirty Honey imagined it, then brought it to life. Yee-haw!

Of course the only way to go after this was back to the full electric sound but by now as we were reeling why not knock us right out with a punch-laden cover of Prince’s ‘Lets Go Crazy’? Why not indeed. ‘Another Last Time’ is a belter of a power ballad and sees singer Marc down on the barrier and mingling with the crowd. There are hints of Bon Jovi and even Bryan Adams about it, and even the hardened old codgers in the crowd wipe away a surreptitious tear when they think no-one is looking.

Guitarist John has his Eddie moment; front and centre he powers out something that nods towards Van Halen’s “Eruption”, but then it’s back to the sleazy sunset strip for a song that could have been thrown away by Guns & Roses. End of the main set and the crowd are baying for more. The band are happy to oblige, and come back on for a couple more songs. Members are introduced to us, and take the opportunity to each throw out a bit more virtuosos soloing. Final song ‘Rolling 7s’ sees us sprint along the final furlong of the show. The lyrics to this one speak of us needing a little loving all night long, and as the final notes of Marc LaBelle’s vibrato scream die away and the band line up to take a bow I can’t help thinking that that’s exactly what we got. We can leave now, satiated and happy, but rest assured the memories of this show will echo around us for a good while. 

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Dirty Honey, The Heavy North