Wild Honey Rock The Bedford

I first heard of Wild Honey a few months back , when the bass player handed me a cd. Thats nothing remarkable, I get handed CDs from bands all the time …..

What struck me on first hearing was that for a group of young lads ( I believe the average age of the band is around 23) the sound was remarkably retro (guaranteed to rouse my interest !) A little bit of  Thin Lizzy here, a touch of Bolan there. However, these songs are originals with a twist that takes you back to the halcyon days of catchy riffs, footstomping anthems and a definate feel good factor.

This was enough to get me to ask them to take part in Brighton and Hove Community Radios’ Big Event Fundraiser next month and having given their tunes some airplay on LADY STARDUZTS WALL OF SOUND GLAMROCKING RADIO SHOW and getting a  tremendous response  from my listeners there was only one thing left …. to see if these 5 guys from London could cut it live.

Braving the typical British Bank Holiday elements I headed over to The Bedford Pub in Balham to check them out.

People who know me well, know that as much as I adore my music, especially live music, unless a band is visual they quickly lose my interest HOWEVER from the moment they stepped out on stage they had the entire audience hooked and on their feet.

Frontman Danny Keenan belted out number after number and interacted with the audience and jumped around the stage with all the energy of a young Axl Rose and was so at home doing so it did make me wonder if he had leapt out of the womb that way. He raised his hands above his head and clapped and the audience were right there , on their feet clapping right back at him. Such confidence without arrogance from one so young !

Guitarists Sam Keenan and Fil Hardy put on a top show and worked the (rather small) space well and played with such energy they would have axemen twice their age weeping with envy, which given that Fil only joined the ranks of the Honeys a couple of weeks ago was pretty admirable to say the least.

The rythm section Fernando Gonzalez on drums and Ross Harris on bass were taking no prisoners either and I have to say , not since Slades Jimmy Lea have I seen a dude bend the notes on a bass and play it like it was a Fender Strat  during a couple of bass solos.

To summarise, the music was great, the band was tight and professional, they played with abounding energy and above all , unlike a lot of bands nowadays who seem to find it cool to stand and posture, glare and shoegaze, these guys looked like they were having a bloody good time and that shone through and the audience responded in kind.

What is most remarkable is that these guys have only known each other a couple of months and this was their first outing ……

My only criticism of the night was they should have played for longer but they definately left the entire audience wanting more and let me tell you something, you havent heard the last of these guys, I predict great things for them !

 

Get the Wild Honey buzz here :-

https://www.facebook.com/wildhoneyrock#!/wildhoneyrock

and have a listen here :-

http://soundcloud.com/wildhoneyrockuk

YOU WON’T BE DISAPPOINTED !