It's hard work making an entire venue wish that they were you, however front woman of Black Honey, Izzy Bee, oozes with so much cool she makes it look as if it's her day job. Yet a kick ass lead singer is not all this fierce band have to offer. Armed with an attitude that could turn you to stone in one second and then melt your heart the next, the band's music is addictive like something sweet but storms into your ears like a lighting strike. For one night, and one night only, this tenacious foursome took over Southampton's The Joiners, however their smell and sound is probably still lingering around the venue after whipping up such a moshing storm.
The Joiners as a music venue is pretty cool: it's outside is a shell of your average pub yet its insides are made of your typical gig venue organs and is plastered in music posters- past and present. A suitable place for Black Honey's first support act to take the stage, cue the southern quartet Fever, who evidently have some notoriety within the venue anyway! Whilst they only have two songs on SoundCloud, Fever emptied out an handful of tunes that seemingly can't be found on the internet and therefore can only be heard live. Their sound is little more than garage fuzz, however that's not to say that they are average, on the contrary their songs are hot like fever yet on stage they are as chilled as the cold beer in your hands. What the band lack in stage, and internet, presence they make up for in music, kick starting the cold sweats of evening.
Following the South Coast's answer to grunge, Fever, comes a south London soloist Johnny Lloyd (solo despite the fact he comes with a band and a good looking sound crew). As former front man of Camden's Tribes, Johnny Lloyd is a natural born performer who comes equipped with a voice that warms your heart and sweet, ceaseless, hip thrusting action. His performance is also aided with the help of a setlist that is armed with so much talent you could sink you teeth into it and take a chunk out. Each song him and the band performed was something a little different ranging from sounds similar to Bob Dylan, 'John Wesley Harding' circa, to sounding not too dissimilar to Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' era. On the night he performed his recent release 'Hello Death', produced by Jamie T, as well as singles 'Pilgrims', produced by Mystery Jets, and 'Happy Humans'
; much to the middle aged women behind us' delight. After supporting Black Honey, Johnny Lloyd, and co, are embarking on a solo tour as well as touring with Band of Skulls, so see them there or forever live in the unknown where your ears are never graced with Johnny Lloyd's smouldering sounds.
Black Honey shortly emerge upon the stage that is already full of their instruments and infamous flamingo ornament, and the crowd, needless to say, embrace the band with welcoming arms. The band began their setlist with no intention of lulling, starting as they mean to go on with the throwing off of a beret and their tune 'Spinning Wheel' (that makes you feel as though you're in a Tarantino movie). With a crowd that worships the ground the band walk on, who not only want to be lead singer Izzy Bee but also drool over her, the atmosphere was rife for some angsty carnage. Black Honey continued to pound relentlessly through a setlist made up of both their EPs and new song 'Mothership', which required the audience to crouch to listen to Izzy Bee as if she was so kind of cult preacher before bursting up into a frenzy of shear glorious chaos. The night ended in what seems to be a theme of a Black Honey gig and that is a full blown stage invasion with no fucks given. Having already been told to 'behave' and 'get down' when the first few attempts were made it was the final song, 'YSIA', that called for the sweaty bunch of adolescences to storm the stage and succeed. Once Black Honey finished, and the crowd had wet their pants, they could be found in the lobby selling merch and baptising pre-pubescences with temporary tats.
Black Honey in some respects remain a secret band that apparently people in the local pub hadn't heard of, however, it goes without saying that their performance is a 60s esk creation of the grooviest kind of pandemonium that can't be missed.
All photos were taken at the gig, by one Jamie Wrapson (thanks pal)
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