Live Review | Honey Revenge & Artio | The Underworld, Camden | 23/05/2024

Right before their first ever festival appearance at Slam Dunk, rising pop rockers Honey Revenge put together a string of headline shows including their biggest headliner ever at London's iconic Underworld.

Artio

The Underworld is already packed by the time Artio come on; they’re celebrating their debut album Babyface from this year and there’s a self-assuredness to their delivery despite being such a young band. Early highlight ‘Head in the Sand, Finger On the Trigger’ is a riotous call to arms demanding trans people be allowed to live their own lives peacefully, something that shouldn’t be controversial, and the crowd agree enthusiastically. Pulsing synths backdrop their punchy pop rock, moments of pure propulsive pop occasionally breaking the surface and a good few in the crowd love it, bouncing along to Artio’s deceptively catchy, occasionally heavy hooks.

Honey Revenge

Honey Revenge have come a huge way in a short time; their last headline here was Camden’s Assembly barely six months ago but tonight they’re headlining a packed out Underworld. Opening with the swaggering, grooving ‘Worst Apology’, the energy is already electrifying as they power through its earworm chorus. If there’s one thing Honey Revenge really know their way around, it’s a fiendishly fun hook; from the Y2K bubblegum pop rock of Habitual where singer Devin Papadol briefly dances the Macarena, to ‘Favorite Song’ where a conga line snakes its way through the throng. This is their biggest (non-festival) show of their European tour, and they’ve brought the energy to match, as has every single one of the 500 people in the room. There’s plenty of sub drops too, accenting those big moments where the chorus comes back one last time, and even though they’re so plentiful their sheer audaciousness means they never lose impact. Papadol is a livewire, her energy spilling offstage as she dances near constantly, asking the crowd with a huge grin, “are you having fun?” as if it wasn’t blindingly obvious everybody is, all while guitarist Donovan Lloyd tosses out funky licks like they’re going out of fashion. There’s something wonderfully anachronistic about it, a modern take on the early 2000s pop rock or the arguably overdone moment everyone has to get on their knees and jump. Even with a short, barely 50 minute, headline set there’s no arguing that Honey Revenge gave it their all and then some, and that every single person that’s followed their journey so far isn’t richly rewarded with one of the most fun nights of the year.