Live Review: Dirty Honey (Opening The Struts) @ The Anthem — 8/17/25

Dirty Honey: Rock Revival Under the District Lights
Words and photos by Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography

Walking down Wharf Street on a sticky August evening in Washington, DC, you could already tell who was headed to The Anthem. The place attracts a mixed bag, depending on who’s on stage — jam-band kids, indie heads, EDM ravers, you name it — but tonight it was mostly the denim-and-leather crowd, the ones who know their riffs and don’t flinch when the amps hit 11.

And on this recent night at The Anthem, Dirty Honey used every inch of that room to remind the DC crowd that rock and roll doesn’t need a revival tour — it’s alive, sweating, swaggering, and unapologetically loud.

I’ve already seen them in concert seven times and this time, opening for The Struts, Dirty Honey didn’t waste a breath. Straight into “Gypsy,” and Marc LaBelle stormed the stage, shades gleaming under the spotlights, like he’d just wandered in from some outlaw movie. His voice was pure rasp and bite, the kind that grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go.

John Notto wasted no time either — his guitar sounded like it had teeth, gnashing through the air with a tone that hit somewhere between Jimmy Page’s snarl and Slash’s swagger. Notto plays like the fretboard owes him money, and the crowd ate it up.

Second song, “California Dreamin’,” rolled out with that sunburnt groove that makes it both menacing and oddly summery. The irony of singing about LA while standing a few blocks from the Smithsonian didn’t go unnoticed — Marc grinned and the August 17 crowd loved it.

Drummer Jaydon Bean — still the “new kid” technically, but already playing like a veteran — drove the beat like it was a ’69 Chevelle SS ripping down the quarter mile. The Anthem is notorious for making basslines feel like earthquakes and Justin Smolian’s bass was thick enough to rattle drinks off the balcony rails. You didn’t just hear “California Dreamin’” — you felt it pounding in your soul.

If there’s a moment when a Dirty Honey show goes from great to amazing, it was “Heartbreaker.” The groove was nasty, swampy, pure blues-rock grit. The third song, and the energy was already hovering somewhere between combustible and unmanageable. “Heartbreaker” just took it higher. That bluesy grit, that strut — it’s the kind of song that makes you want to throw a drink in the air even if you’re stone sober.

Notto’s solo slithered out sharp and dirty, bending and squealing in all the right places. You could tell the crowd was locked in when even the balcony people — who sometimes treat Anthem shows like background music while they sip cocktails — were leaning forward, phones down, hands in the air.

Watch Dirty Honey perform “Heartbreaker” live for The Suitcase Sessions on YouTube:

Up next was “Too Good at Being Bad.” This one was dirtier, slower, and meaner like a street fight in slow motion. Marc’s delivery here is all grit and smirk, like he’s letting you in on a joke you probably shouldn’t laugh at but do anyway. Notto’s solo was pure sleaze. He made that Les Paul sound like it had been dipped in gasoline and set alight.

There’s this fine line between cocky and convincing, and Dirty Honey walks it better than most modern bands. They don’t fake swagger — they are swagger.

Mid-set, they slowed things down — well, slowed by Dirty Honey standards. “Another Last Time” isn’t a breather so much as a bruised anthem. Marc stood almost motionless at the mic, his voice carrying the weight of heartbreak but refusing to give in. It’s that fine line between vulnerability and defiance, and he walked it perfectly.

That’s what a good ballad does — it doesn’t just slow the show, it pulls everyone inward for a minute.

Then came “The Wire,” snapping us back into motion. This song feels like riding shotgun in a car with bad brakes: sudden stops, lurching starts, momentum threatening to throw you through the windshield.

Marc prowled the stage like a man possessed for this one, the lights painting him in deep reds and oranges that matched the vibe perfectly. His delivery was raw, jagged, almost pleading but never weak.

Notto’s got that rare mix of precision and recklessness, like he knows exactly where he’s headed but still makes you believe he might crash along the way.

The roar that greeted “When I’m Gone” was deafening — maybe the loudest of the night. This is their calling card, the track that broke them through, and DC knew every word. Marc barely had to sing the chorus; the crowd had it covered.

Watch the official music video for “When I’m Gone” by Dirty Honey on YouTube:

If “When I’m Gone” was catharsis, “Won’t Take Me Alive” was the war cry. Heavy, relentless, stomping. This one dripped pure sleaze. Marc delivered the vocals with a grin that felt half-dangerous, half-playful. The groove was slow, deliberate, like a fight song in a smoky bar. If “Gypsy” was the freight train, this was the motorcycle idling outside, revving and just waiting tear off down the street.

They saved the slickest for last. “Rolling 7’s” has always felt like the distillation of what Dirty Honey is about: swagger, groove, danger, and fun. It’s a gambler’s song, a strutter’s song and live, it’s unstoppable.

Marc had the crowd in the palm of his hand by this point. Notto stretched his solo into this bluesy, wailing, endless thing that seemed like it might collapse in on itself but never did. Smolian and Bean held it down, rolling and rumbling until the very end.

By then drinks were spilled, voices cracked, shoes stuck to the floor. It was everything a closer should be — messy, sweaty, glorious.

Walking out into the swampy DC night, after the show, you could feel it in the air: people buzzing, smiling, talking about riffs and moments and when they’ll see the band again. That’s what you want from a show, right? To walk down the street still humming, still vibrating, still a little bit high on rock and roll.

Setlist

1. Gypsy
2. California Dreamin’
3. Heartbreaker
4. Too Good at Being Bad
5. Another Last Time
6. The Wire
7. Don’t Put Out the Fire
8. When I’m Gone
9. Won’t Take Me Alive
10. Rolling 7’s

Here are some photos of Dirty Honey, opening The Struts, live at The Anthem on August 17, 2025. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Michael Sprouse/ Odd Rocker Photography.