Dirty Honey revved up, floored the gas, and didn’t let up for the final night of their “Can’t Find the Brakes” tour Friday night at The Hawthorn in St. Louis.
Lead singer, Marc LaBelle kicked the night off by stating, “the wilder the crowd gets the longer we’ll play. The last show was a lot but we still have a little gas left in us.”
The next 100-plus minutes proved that this stylish, rocking band has earned Rolling Stone’s “Artist You Need To Know” designation.
At least their sixth time performing in St. Louis since they started out in 2017, we’d like to think they have a good time here, and the devoted fans continue to show up for them each time.
They kicked off the night with the title track from their newly released full-length album, the driving, “Can’t Find the Brakes,” and easily transitioned into fan-favorite “California Dreamin’.” Flashing his pearly whites, LaBelle asked the crowd to help out during “Heartbreaker.”
The quartet, which includes John Notto on guitars, Justin Smolian on bass and newcomer Jaydon Bean on drums, transitioned into “Scars” a more psychedelic sound than what Dirty Honey’s produced before. However, Notto did hint in an interview with ACM last year that they’d been working on a new sound saying, “I still think we’re uncovering it…we’re going to do stuff that people aren’t expecting but it’s not going to be some sort of abandonment of our style.”
The night continued with solo jams, jumps and good ol’ rock ’n’ roll that included covers of “Honky Tonk Women” and “Let’s Go Crazy”—both of which riled the crowd up even more.
LaBelle got up close and personal with the front row twice on a couple of the slower tunes and egged on fans by saying, “St. Louis is a little more civilized than Louisville” (where they had played the night before).
After a quick break that included a simple wardrobe change for LaBelle, they appeared back on stage and quickly accelerated full throttle with the gritty, thrashy, “Won’t Take Me Alive.” They then slowed it down with the sweet, melodic “You Make it All Right,” which they performed for the first time on tour. Afterward, each member gave a short solo before ending the night with “Rebel Son” another song from Can’t Find the Brakes.
LaBelle closed the night by wishing everyone a happy holiday and a heartfelt reminder to “hug your loved ones.”
Texas-born and bred Austin Meade (donning a sharp Cult of Individuality ensemble) and band opened the night at 7:45 p.m. with a 50-minute set of driving rock ’n’ roll. While Meade’s origins may have started out a little more country, with lyrics such as “feels so good to fuck you over,” in the heavy pulsating “Violation,” it’s safe to say he’s transitioned away from those roots. Then, the slower, rhythmic “Deja Vu” harkens a bit more to an alt-rock feel and shows a breadth to Meade’s stylings. He closed the set with his latest single, “Blackout” which incorporates some electronic moments that, dare we say, should easily put him on the charts.
The night proved that Dirty Honey continues to steer in the right direction and is a band worth seeing over and over again.
All photos from the night: https://bit.ly/DirtyHoney23cz
Dirty Honey’s setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/dirty-honey/2023/the-hawthorn-st-louis-mo-3ae7183.html
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.
