Can’t Find The Brakes is the title of Dirty Honey’s recently released album and definitely sounds like a true statement. Since its creation, Dirty Honey has been continuously growing while gaining fans and they can’t seem to stop getting bigger. Formed six years ago, the band has released two LPs, one EP and a handful of singles. Inspired by classic rock acts such as Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith, the band has been bringing back classic rock to the masses. On November 20th, they brought their incredible energy to The Belasco in downtown Los Angeles and we were there to catch them.
Austin Meade opened the show at 7:45pm. Although he usually performs with a full band, he chose to perform an acoustic set with his guitar player David Willie. They opened with “Red Roof Estate” from the 2022 album Abstract Art Of An Unstable Mind and got a positive reception from the audience. Throughout his set, Austin mainly stuck to songs from his last two albums except for a couple of songs. I personally thought the highlight of the show was the mashup of his song “Happier Alone” with Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now”. He closed his set with the single “Blackout” released earlier this year and definitely gained a few fans that night.
At 9pm, the lights turned off and the crowd went wild. The show was recorded and broadcasted live on Veeps so everyone in attendance made sure to be as loud as possible. Radio DJ Matthew Pinfield got on stage and introduced the band as the show was put together by KLOS radio. The band got on stage and opened with “Can’t Find The Brakes” from the album of the same name which set the energy level very high from the get go. Justin’s bass was heavy and complimented Jaydon’s drumming perfectly. The band proceeded to play a few older songs “California Dreamin’” and “Heartbreaker” from the 2021 self-titled album and 2019 self-titled EP. I had never seen them live before and was shocked at Marc Labelle’s incredible vocal performance which was even better than on the records.
Mid-show, Dirty Honey calmed things down for a couple of acoustic songs, “Coming Home (Ballad Of The Shire)” from the new album and The Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women” cover which got the audience dancing and singing. Another notable cover was Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” that the band had released as a single a few years back. The band ended the set with “When I’m Gone” on which John Notto took an amazing guitar solo, although he had been showcasing his amazing skills throughout the evening. After a short break, the band came back for an encore and brought up to the stage The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson for a cover of AC/DC’s “Rock’n’Roll Damnation”. The band ended the show with their classic song “Rolling 7s”.
Alongside bands like Greta Van Fleet or Rival Sons, Dirty Honey is contributing to this classic rock revival wave which has been getting more and more attention. The musicians were amazing and I would recommend anyone to go see them live. The band will keep taking their show on the road up north along the coast and to the Midwest until mid-December, before embarking on the European leg of the tour. Make sure to give Austin Meade and Dirty Honey a listen, you won’t be disappointed.
DIRTY HONEY
AUSTIN MEADE
Photos + Review by Manuel Gay | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!