A sold out Bodega played the intimate setting for Honeyblood’s return to Nottingham on the tour of their second album Babes Never Die.
The duo began with an offering from their new album in ‘Ready for the Magic’, however the momentum of their opening was slightly delayed by ongoing mic trouble. Thankfully, a replacement was smoothly sought and implemented and the show quickly carried on.
“Fierceness was not created nearly as often as the crowd were expecting”
An old fan favourite; ‘Choker’ came next. However, throwbacks to Honeyblood’s eponymous debut were to be few and far between as Babes Never Die was played almost in its completion. This did provide a good showcase for their new album, but at times it felt almost neglectful of the songs that had pressed much of the audience to come to the show. The live highlight of their new album came in the ferocious ‘Love is a Disease’ which hissed with punk and attitude, however this fierceness was not created nearly as often as the crowd were expecting.
The pair engaged well with the crowd: irreverent conversation over the Shetlands and tequila made for nice little interludes. However these sections often dragged for longer than was comfortable and began to drain the energy from the set.
This was particularly evident with their introduction of a third member of the band in the bass machine they called Sebastian before playing ‘Sister Wolf’. This comic segment seemed to fall a little flat and there was an anxious air in the crowd as people were beginning to become frustrated with the long tune-ups needed in between songs.
“‘Super Rat’ into ‘Killer Bangs’ provided some life into a crowd which had remained dormant for much of the night”
Possibly the highlight of the gig came when the Scot rockers reverted to two of the hits from their debut as the combination of ‘Super Rat’ into ‘Killer Bangs’ provided some life into a crowd which had remained dormant for much of the night.
Overall, Honeyblood were fun but compared to the heights their first introduction to the scene hinted at a couple of years ago, it can’t be helped but to feel a small pang of disappointment at these recent live offerings. There was a lot to enjoy but too much of the performance felt stilted and monotonous.
Jack Smiddy
Image courtesy of Black Arts PR.
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