Dirty Honey at Hard Rock Live Orlando on April 10, 2022
Dirty Honey is out to prove Gene Simmons wrong.
Rock is not dead; in fact, it is alive and kickin.'
Evidence of rock's never-ending status as a part of Americana could be found at Hard Rock Live Orlando on April 10 as Dirty Honey and Naked Gypsy Queens performed in front of a near packed, raucous crowd. Simply by showing up for the Young Guns Tour, fans are showing that rock n roll is here to stay.
Originally Mammoth WVH was set to be the opener for Dirty Honey. Four days before the show, people on his crew and bandmates tested positive for covid. Good job by the promoters and all involved to offer a refund on many occasions, including right before tickets were scanned to enter the venue.
Some in the crowd were disappointed to not see Eddie Van Halen's son perform however, Wolfgang Van Halen (the WVH part of the band's name) promised they will do their "Very best to make up the dates that we missed to the fans in those markets in the future.” They are still scheduled to play Rockville in Daytona Beach in May.
Naked Gypsy Queens filled in quit admirably. The band ripped through a high-energy set that lasted about 40 minutes. They were so impressive that three songs in folk were asking who are these guys. That's how you win fans and influence record sales.
Their debut EP titled "Georgiana" was released this past February. The song by the same name screams rock n roll. I love the catchy title, "If Your Name is New York (Then Mine's Amsterdam)." It's also a great, mellow, song. "Down to the Devil" has gotten significant airplay. I hear some Lynyrd Skynyrd in them if you are looking for a comparison.
Lead singer Chris Attigliato was as polite as a person could be when asking the sound person to raise his vocals. After Dirty Honey was finished, Chris could be found at the merch table chatting up fans.
Dirty Honey fulfilled their promise of playing a longer set to make up for Mammoth WVH deciding not to play the remaining six nights of the Young Guns Tours. The terrific song "Scars" was added to the setlist for the Orlando show.
The band's first EP came out in 2019, first full-length record in 2021, yet they already have songs that get the 'this is a Dirty Honey classic' response from the fans. Those songs are the number one Billboard charting, "When I'm Gone," "Fire Away," "Down the Road," and "Rolling 7s."
There were so many cool moments.
- Lead singer Marc LaBelle mentioned that he loves coming to Florida so he can see his mother. She was in the audience; he mentioned how she always told him to cut his hair and that her favorite Dirty Honey song is "Gypsy." That was the lead-in to the song. While all that went on, somebody fist-bumped his mother. Awesome.
- They covered Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" and AC/DCs "Shoot to Thrill."
- No encore. No pretending to go off and then come back on. I like that.
Lead guitarist John Notto has a great sound. Explaining how he gets that sound is above my paygrade, so I will let Guitar World do that in this interview.
Rock n Roll has spent a lifetime defending itself. The genre has been attacked as the devil's music; they said Disco was going to kill it, they said New Wave was going to kill it, they said Rap was going to kill it, now Gene Simmons says it's dead.
All three bands that have been a part of the Young Guns Tour prove that rock is not dead nor dying,
They are living by the credo of this lyric: "Rock 'n Roll is here to stay, it will never die. It was meant to be that way, though I don't know why. I don't care what people say, Rock 'n Roll is here to stay. ~Danny & the Juniors~ circa 1958
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See ya soon!
(All photos Milajean Manchester)
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