Landing at The Troubadour in West Hollywood just before Thanksgiving to put on a solid performance, Dirty Honey knocked it out of the Rock N’ Roll ballpark to a sold-out audience of enthusiastic attendees.
If you haven’t heard of Dirty Honey, you will, as this fast-moving train of talent is headed for a ripping good stint as the latest thing. Some have even credited them with keeping Rock N’ Roll alive and kicking.
At this gig, Dirty Honey was the headliner with Oriah opening for them at the legendary venue The Troubadour. Dirty Honey has opened for Slash and the Conspirators, The Who and Guns N’ Roses recently and the above-mentioned acts have joined the ranks of their fast growing army of fans.
Filling The Troubadour with what has been described as “meaty melodies, explosive dynamics, grooves as tight as a sealed envelope, vocals that bellow across a venue,” Dirty Honey is sure to leave you wanting to hear more. In fact, Dirty Honey did offer up an encore with their number one charting hit “When I’m Gone” and then “Rolling 7s” which has a very desert- flavored video that sounds sexy and while offering up visions of a deserted frontier town that will bring perspiration to your lips as you lick them in anticipation of more.
Another video featuring their song “Fire Away” was filmed live at Capital Record’s Studio A has no gimmicks…just good, solid Rock.
During the show, Dirty Honey paid tribute to Slash which touched the heart of Guns N’ Roses former manager Vicky Hamilton. To this day Hamilton holds Slash in a special place of her heart and the two are still good friends.
Of the show, Hamilton said “Redlight’s golden goose Dirty Honey has a slamming sold-out show at The Troubadour. The singer sang Slash’s praises and then launched into a cover of Aerosmith’s “Last Child.” Dirty Honey has got groove and soul and the singer’s got great pipes. I’ll have to hear their record to know if they really have songs. I enjoyed it!”
What tipped LA Music Scene’s nose for news was the fact that Dirty Honey was introduced by KLOS’s own Marci Wiser. Dirty Honey were also guests of Wiser’s earlier that afternoon. When I saw that my mind jumped to “Oh wow, 95.5 KLOS is working on being relevant again.” For a number of years KLOS has only concerned themselves with “Classic Rock N’ Roll” and not up and comings such as Dirty Honey.”
Don’t get us wrong we like KLOS, but come on all they usually play is Classic Rock which begs the question…is Dirty Honey destined to become a Classic Rock outfit? That would be cool indeed.
Of his band’s status as purveyors of fine Rock N’ Roll, Marc LaBelle, Dirty Honey lead singer, has said “We don’t want to bring anything back, we just want to make music that’s sexy and hard and rocking all at the same time.” LaBelle’s voice is not the same on every song.
LaBelle can go from raspy Axel Rose of “Guns N’ Roses” to Crooning much like Alex Turner of the “Arctic Monkeys.” This ability enables LaBelle’s pipes to deliver the goods.
Trust LA Music Scene, Dirty Honey, you have succeeded in your goal of crafting music that is sexy, hard and rocking all at the same time.
Also on the set list that night were: “Scars,” “Break You,” “Fire Away,” “Heartbreaker,” “Down The Road” and “Take My Hand.” All were flawlessly performed and executed to the NTH degree of sultry.
Formed in 2017, John Notto, Dirty Honey guitarist, labeled their brand of sultry music as “new fashioned Rock N’ Roll.”
Dirty Honey are the first unsigned act to land the distinction of being the first to hit number one Rock Song on Billboard Magazine with “When I’m Gone.” To put their almost meteoric rise in perspective Billboard has been in business for nearly four decades. Also, they were chosen as iHeart Radio’s “On The Verge” Rock Artist, have racked up more than 10 million streams, headlined its first ever U.S. Tour playing to SRO crowds in every city.
Their sophomore single “Rolling 7s” #2 most added last week @Rock Radio (behind Ozzy) and already have been in the Top 30 at Active Rock Radio.
NPR has said “Don’t believe anyone if they tell you rock is dead. Dirty Honey rocks in the best possible way.” This isn’t too shabby for a band that hasn’t been signed to a major label deal. Pollstar has given them credit for being the next wave in Rock music which in turn will give Rock a solid standing once again in the patchwork quilt that is the music business.
This Los angeles based group are set to go out on the “Rolling 7s Tour” early in 2020 and will play at 20 venues across the US and will land back there in LA for a gig at the El Rey Theater on February 28, 2020. There is also a gig in San Francisco, CA on February 25 at Slim’s.
Dirty Honey has a Facebook page that has current videos as well as merch opportunities, lots of photos and news.
If Dirty Honey doesn’t need a record label to launch a career that has taken off on it’s own by selecting top music business people to aide them, then perhaps it’s time to take a look at just how important a major record label deal is these days. The pioneers in this endeavor were Metallica and they seem to have done pretty well for themselves.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…a band can fake it in the studio, but in a live performance the truth will be told. Dirty Honey is the real deal with no studio magic or lip synced performances…the ears know.