Words and Photos by Alder Boutin
Honey Revenge’s Loving And Losing Tour is a breath of fresh air in the pop rock scene. The stacked lineup – featuring bubble-grunge duo Daisy Grenade, metal spitfire Vana, and soul punk band Nightlife – is a haven for many underrepresented folks. I was lucky enough to catch this evening of crowd-surfing and conga lines at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
Nightlife, who have been touring as a trio, were joined in D.C. by their full band of five. Singer Hansel Romero hit each note with buttery smooth precision as the band became one with their music, moving to each beat. Saxophonist Allan Rafael Romero played a brief instrumental chorus of Honey Revenge’s “Airhead” before launching into a song of upbeat yearning, “Fool Me Once.” Nightlife ended their set by proclaiming, “If you didn’t know, now you know!”
Vana commanded the venue with her assured presence and piercing gaze – and her demands that the crowd bark like a dog, meow like a cat, and yip like a chihuahua. Swinging the bright red tassels on her dress and her matching red hair, she flipped seamlessly from teasing vocals to heavy screams. Her backup instrumentalists were masked with only their eyes visible, and the guitarists’ long black skirts flew dangerously near the crowd as they spun with abandon. Vana stepped off the stage and up to the barricade during the erotic “Bite Back” to sing and scream inches away from the lucky front and center.
Daisy Grenade burst onto the stage with their signature punch of energy. A crowd favorite was “Don’t Sweat It,” the duo’s pop-influenced latest release with satisfying rhymes and synchronized dance moves. They embodied feminine rage with “Guts” (about “a guy we fucking hate”), Hypocrite (about “hitting a guy with your car”) and “How To Hide A Body” (about – you guessed it – “murder”). The duo channeled this energy into action by encouraging fans to donate to Jail Support LA and Kendall Fortner’s women in music memorial fund. After rocking this tour’s debut of their Nirvana “Polly” cover, Daisy Grenade transformed the venue into a sea of waving hands during “Got It Bad.”
Honey Revenge had no trouble maintaining the night’s energy with their high kicks and even higher octane tunes. Vocalist Devin Papadol introduced call and response chants while guitarist Donovan “Donny” Lloyd grinned at fans in the front row. Someone in a head-to-toe Shrek costume was one of many fans crowd-surfing and bringing life to the mosh pit. Honey Revenge played nearly their entire released discography, as well as three unreleased songs. One of the latter was the tour’s namesake, a heartfelt ballad called “Loving And Losing” in which the band reflects that you “can’t have one without the other,” leaving fans teary-eyed. The 9:30 Club show also fell on touring bassist Sher’s birthday. This called for all three opening acts to parade back onstage during Honey Revenge’s set, armed with a birthday cake and a plushie in a gift bag. The bands led the crowd in a boisterous rendition of “Happy Birthday” before leaving Honey Revenge to finish their performance.
The Loving And Losing Tour is a must-see for fans of punk, pop, rock, soul, or all of the above melded together for an unforgettable night.
Loudspeaker Collective 