Oh! First gig of the year and this girl was excited!

Chauffeured by Mr A and accompanied by Miss Rose Wine, I headed towards Glasgow on Thursday evening. Having parked at the science centre, we set off on foot towards the venue for the evening – SWG3. En route we increased our number by two as we bumped into Mr and Mrs McI. Great to see them both.

So, who were we all braving a chilly January night to see?

The incredible Dirty Honey!

When we arrived, there was a small-ish queue…  but it didn’t look like quite the right queue. Let’s just say that the attire of some of those queuing didn’t fit in with the Dirty Honey vibe. A quick enquiry by Mr McI and we discovered that there were two queues muddled together. The other one was for Bongo’s Bingo….go Google that one for yourself because I don’t even want to ask LOL

There are three rooms in SWG3 and for the first time, I found myself upstairs in the Warehouse. Great sized venue. Holds about 500. Nice and intimate…if a tad chilly at the start of the night. It was a short rail, so we missed out on a rail spot – damn- but settled ourselves one row off rail. Happy days!

There was only one support act – Danko (the band) from Denny near Falkirk. Initially, I wasn’t sure about these guys. The dress code on stage was an eclectic mix. At first I felt that these guys were akin to a wedding band but we’ll chalk that up to nerves. I was concerned that the bass player was going to take the spotlight out at one point with his guitar. He may resemble a young Pete Townshend but no need act like him with such a low ceiling overhead. All that said, Danko (the band) played a solid opening set.

The venue had filled up quickly, everyone eagerly awaiting the arrival on stage of Dirty Honey.

The boys from LA took to the stage at 8:30 to a rapturous welcome from the capacity crowd. Dirty Honey opened their fifteen-song set with the awesome Gypsy from their self-titled debut album. From the instant he stepped on stage, front man Mark LaBelle had the Scottish fans in the palm of his hand. Gypsy was followed by Break You and Heartbreaker from their debut EP.

There is SO much talent in this band. Ok I may be biased here. I love these guys!

Last time Miss Rose Wine and I had seen these guys back in June we had been at bass player Justin Smollian’s side of the stage. Tonight, we were in front of guitarist John “Fucking” Notto. Boy, can he play! One of the joys of a small venue is that you can fully appreciate the skill and talent of the band up close. I could watch John Notto play all night.

I feel I should also thank him for accepting and wearing the Mark LaBelle-wannabe in front of me’s hat… and keeping it on stage for the remainder of the set. Note- if you insist on wearing a hat to a show, keep it on your head and don’t erratically wave it in front of everyone else’s face obliterating their view of the stage.

There were so many highlight moments in Dirty Honey’s set that I’d be here all night singing their praises.

 Mark LaBelle has an incredible voice. His vocal talents really shone through in their cover of Aerosmith’s Last Child. Stunning performance.

Probably my favourite Dirty Honey song made its appearance mid-set- Down The Road. The lyrics, the vocals…oh the whole thing touches the soul. Love it.

For the first time I got to hear these boys play Let’s Go Crazy. I’m not a huge Prince fan but Dirty Honey delivered a spellbinding version of this classic track. This was promptly followed by another of my favourites, California Dreamin’.

Dirty Honey know how to work the stage and the room. Each of them spent time playing or singing to all sides of the room, ensuring that everyone felt a part of the show.

All good things have to come to an end and Dirty Honey rounded out the main body of their set with When I’m Gone.

They weren’t gone just quite yet….

A few minutes later they returned to the stage for a “wee half” (a small whisky to those non-Scots reading this) and one final song, another of my favourites, Rolling 7’s. Awesome stuff!

It’s been brilliant to see Dirty Honey play twice in such an intimate room. These guys deserve to be headlining arenas so I suspect, and in a way hope, that the days of the smaller Dirty Honey are numbered.

Til next time, guys.

As we headed back to the car, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Dirty Honey boys had ventured downstairs in SWG3 to join in with Bongo’s Bingo…