Levels of anticipation are high as Brighton’s Black Honey entertain a packed out crowd in Glasgow’s Classic Grand with their super charged indie rock.
There’s a real buzz in the air about this show. Even outside the entrance to Jamaica Street’s finest venue, most of the punters mulling around are donning Black Honey merch and trademark thick eyeliner. For a Thursday night, the venue is packed out, as evidenced by the sea of bodies inside. Personal body space was going to be at a premium. As my first time in the venue it’s clear this is going to be an excellent experience seeing a band of this calibre in such an intimate venue.
After a politically charged monologue whips the crowd into a frenzy, the boys in the band come onto the stage with front woman and Debbie Harry dead ringer, Izzy Baxter Philips following shortly after. No time is wasted as they launch straight into new single ‘Charlie Bronson’ from their recent album ‘A Fistful of Peaches’ which is well received by the audience judging by the number of few pints being launched into the air.
The four piece from Brighton’s distorted punk sound is perfect for this venue and it is clear they know how to put on a show with Izzy constantly encouraging the crowd to get louder and urging Glasgow to live up to its reputation as ‘the rowdiest city’. ‘Spinning Wheel’ is when the crowd really starts to come alive, even with this being a more sombre and slower paced track. This however, is the first song to see the crowd form into a huge mosh pit! From here on in the connection between the band and crowd only gets stronger. Older hits are fired out in rapid succession; ‘I like the way you die boy’ (my personal favourite song of the night) and ‘Disinfect’ are interspersed with new material which is just as well received by the crowd.
Black Honey are true crowd pleasers, and it is refreshing to see a band have so much of a rapport with their audience. During ‘Run for Cover’ Izzy launches herself into the crowd, effortlessly singing whilst crowd surfing which I thought was cooler than anything I will ever be able to do.
Ending the night on a high, Izzy calls out for non-binary people and women to the front to join her for a mosh during ‘Corrine’. This is followed by a plea for everyone to show more compassion for one another, it’s clearly an issue she identifies with and it’s a sentiment appreciated by their fans. It’s refreshing when artists share their own thoughts and beliefs, a lowering of the veil between artist and fan and is well received by the crowd.
Plenty of moshing, lots of singing and dancing to good indie rock music in an intimate venue in Glasgow, what more could you want on a Thursday night?
Words and pictures: Mark Gillies @magphoto__