Honeyblood are a band I’ve wanted to see for ages and who I finally saw last year at the Handmade Festival in Leicester. However that was a very short set cut even shorter due to the whole festival running behind schedule. I’m hopefully for more than just six songs tonight.
First though are Nottingham’s Super Furniture who openly
confess that they don’t have any music to sell us but they are very keen for us
to buy a t-shirt. They are also back in July. I think the lead singer mentioned
that... several times.
They are a fairly bog standard indie four piece guitar band,
pleasant enough but not of the required level to buy the t-shirt.
Honeyblood are still at that nice stage where they set up
their own instruments while trying to pretend that they aren’t the band before
sneaking off stage to make a grand entrance and everyone’s supposed to go ‘oh,
you ARE the band’. Problem is that’s not working any more because they’re becoming
too well know. As is shown by the fact that this gig, originally scheduled for
the Bodega, got upgraded.
It is their second album ‘Babes Never Die’ that has got them
the recognition and it is from that they open with acerbic ‘Justine, Misery
Queen’. Understandably it is that album, slightly more polished that their
first, that provides the majority of tonight’s set.
However, their first album ‘Honeyblood’ is arguably as good
as shown by the more rift-ful ‘Choker’ which is up next and which sets the tone
for a night of good noisy fun with the odd
reflective moment thrown in such as on the excellent ‘Cruel’.
The band of Stina Tweeddale on guitar and Cat Myers on drums
are one of just many two-piece bands around at the moment. It must be quite a
feat for two people to create the sound that is usually associated with a full
band but these two manage it and think of the lower overheads that must bring. It
makes you wonder why everyone isn't doing it.
There’s also less chance of your band members falling out but
then if you do it's probably terminal or perhaps not because, although
Honeyblood were formed in Glasgow back in 2012, Myers has only been
on board since 2014.
The only misstep is when Stina says ‘Thank you Bristol’
after one track, oops, but after a bout of booing, mainly orchestrated by
herself she is forgiven.
After three of their big numbers ‘Sea Hearts’, oldie ‘Killer
Bangs’ and album title track ‘Babes Never Die’ end the set we find out that a
band who, apparently, didn’t believe in encores now do.
They come back for two more, another oldie ‘Super Rat’ and
one of their recent big singles ‘Ready for the Magic’.
Excellent stuff and, oh, Honeyblood have t-shirts on sale
too.
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