As local legends, Black Honey, make their highly anticipated, sold out return to Brighton at Patterns, you can be sure to be in for a night of pure quirkiness that is unlike any show I’ve been to in a long while. Before the evening even starts, the vast age range this band appeal to is immediately apparent; everyone from young teenagers at their first gig, standing alongside many die hard fans who were well into their 60s. Black Honey really do represent how music does have an innate talent in bringing people together.

The night starts off with fellow Brighton formed four-piece, Dream Wife. This band certainly do possess an eccentric quirkiness to them, their sound is one which is hard to definitively pin down, which is refreshing from the majority of upcoming bands. From the offset, vocalist, Icelandic born, Rakel Mjöll, is jumping all over the stage; in places this does somewhat reduce the quality of vocals with some lines being cut short as she runs out of breath. Similarly, the harmonies are a little all over the place, at points drowning out the lead vocal. Nonetheless, when it comes to a band like Dream Wife, you don’t want precision, you want a level of enthusiasm that is going to get a crowd moving, and in that respect, they excel. What initially seems like a sort of psychedelic grunge band, then, transforms into an unexpected tower of profanity unleashing that is both hilarious and makes Dream Wife one to be watching.

Black Honey soon arrive to the stage alongside a giant luminescent banner of their name. Impressive lighting setups however do not deter the fact that when the band start, after having to follow the enthusiasm of Dream Wife, it almost looks as though they don’t really want to be here. There is little to no movement from any of the band members or even any recognition that the crowd are even here. This minor bump is quickly corrected as the set progresses into fan favourites such as ‘Teenager’ and ‘Bloodlust’, which allow both the crowd and the band to find their rhythm.

Throughout the set, each song seems to be intertwined with a notable twist from its recorded counterpart. Some possessing more of a southernly feel with drawn out guitar as though it were taken directly from a Clint Eastwood film, whilst others have a larger emphasis on toning down and letting singer, Izzy B. Phillips, carry the song. Izzy’s vocals are extremely strong yet offer a soothing tone boasting a particular uniqueness, which has become the signature of any Black Honey song. Each twist works well and is dramatically different from its predecessor, keeping the audience on their toes, as a sense of not knowing what to expect next is kept alive for the entirety of the evening.

Izzy possesses a very distinctive, encapsulating stare which whoever its gaze meets, is transported into a dimension where the song is being played to an audience comprised of just them. The overall sound is crisp, you can tell this level of precision has been drilled into them after rigorous touring and receiving huge levels of support from: Radio One, The Guardian and many more.

It feels as though as soon as the set has started, it begins to come to a close. Izzy does make the show a lot more personal at this point, whilst not only telling the audience how great it is to be back in Brighton, getting everyone on the ground to tell us her “Little Secret,” before leading into a vortex of riffs, leaving everyone, despite their age, bouncing around to their heart’s content. Tracks such as the newly-released ‘Hello Today’ and ending song ‘Corrine’ too are sublime, offering a perfect sense of closure to the evening. No encore is needed here, as Black Honey have very much left their mark on this audience.

Overall, Black Honey are an interesting one to judge, whilst they are very much a success story for Brighton musicians to aspire to and offer an incredibly immersive show, I did come away feeling just a tiny bit unfulfilled. For a band of such a highly regarded calibre, playing a hometown show, I was expecting something just a little more special from their performance, perhaps simply including just one or two more tracks would have corrected this. Either way, Black Honey offer more than a great evening and are undoubtedly, rightly so, one of the hottest bands on the scene right now. Next time Black Honey return to Brighton, they are certainly not one to be missed and are only set to be bigger and better than ever.

Ben Walker

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