DIRTY HONEY - LIVE IN SALT LAKE CITY
Dirty Honey, hailing from Los Angeles, California, has been jamming non-stop on their ‘Can’t Find The Brakes’ Tour throughout the US. November 17th, they made their stop in Salt Lake City, Utah, accompanied by Austin Meade. I haven’t been listening to Dirty Honey all that long, but when I got the approval, I was ecstatic. I knew, from the get-go, that this show would be magnetic.
Austin Meade rolled in, starting the night, with an electric set. As someone who was raised on rock since Day 1 of her life, his set was an absolute blast to experience. The group is remarkably talented, and blew myself, and my friends who were at the show away. Dirty Honey chose the perfect group to open and bring the energy up like no other. Even after leaving the photo pit, where barricade is usually most energetic, the crowd towards the back was also enthralled by Austin Meade.
Dirty Honey hit the stage around 9 PM, starting the show with their album title song, ‘Can’t Find The Brakes’. For a song that was fairly recently released, the crowd behind me was singing along to every word in near perfect harmony to Marc LaBelle (vocalist). Immediately as Marc started to sing, it became apparent that his voice was virtually the same live and on record. That will always be a talent i personally admire when seeing an artist live. Marc, himself, was entertaining to watch live. He involved the crowd, standing up against the barricade, holding the mic out to everyone singing along. He was nonstop moving across the stage, and just enjoying himself the whole time.
Throughout the night, Dirty Honey played songs from the self-titled album ‘Dirty Honey’; They followed ‘Can’t Find The Brakes’ with ‘California Dreaming’, ‘Heartbreaker’, and ‘Scars’. They played a few covers in the midst of their own releases as well, ‘Honky Tonk Women’ by The Rolling Stones, and a personal favorite, ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ by Prince! Both were perfect additions to their setlist, and definitely matched the overall vibe of the show itself; They were also massive crowd pleasers, the whole room lit up when played.
John Notto’s (guitarist) solo’s throughout the night were insane. Insane being the only word I can find for how he worked the guitar itself, even leaning it toward the speakers to make them whine, played into the song and solos perfectly. His talent is one I’ve yet to see live since Greta Van Fleet earlier this year; as well as their drummer, Jaydon Bean. His talent is definitely one to admire, a friend of mine, a guitarist himself, who was at the show, commented numerous times on how wicked John’s solos were. He seems to inspire musicians like him with what he does, I certainly loved what he did!
The bassist, Justin Smolian, was granted more than a few solos during the event as well, and his talent on the bass was also quite an experience. As someone who has a special interest in the instrument outside of photography, I was entirely encapsulated by his work throughout the night. I only hope to have half the talent he showed the night.
The Depot provided me VIP access to the upstairs lounge, and watching them perform from up there created an evening crazier experience. No matter where you are in the venue, Dirty Honey’s energy is something of electrifying. One of my top 5 shows of the whole year, I would say. It was exciting, energetic, and a night full of unbelievable talent.
I highly recommend seeing Dirty Honey live as soon as you get the chance. They’re continuing their US portion of the tour before they take their raging talent to the UK next year!
