Live Review: Hunny – 6th November 2024 – The HAC, London, UK
3 min read
Last night, fresh pop artist Hunny took to the stage at The HAC in Hackney, London for the third and final night of celebrations in anticipation of her debut single Mistress 2. The venue enticed everyone from down the street, colours flashing methodically across the exterior. It turned out I was at the venue early, despite the 7pm start time, and even helped move some of the barriers indoors for the setup. Handed a slick booklet consolidating Hunny’s personal, musical, and spiritual atheistic, the scene was set – especially by the sight of multiple gimp suit clad models grinding up against the iron bars of the deconsecrated church’s pews.
Watching the gimps traverse the stage area during setup was undeniably humorous, but the staging itself was not. Methodical, satanical; much thought had been put into the overall feeling and it was palpable. The audience was packed with friends, family, and acquaintances, talking of past shows and other memories. The host finally arrived, boosting Hunny as a performer and presence. With a hug and a kiss, Hunny arrived. Her first tune was a message to women everywhere to not to listen to people telling them what to do. Get Up, Stand Up resonated around the room with just her voice and an acoustic guitar. Reggae and bossa vibes came from the playing, Hunny’s voice having a distinctive Whitehouse timbre. What If followed, a bittersweet mid-tempo ballad à la Warwick Avenue. Effortless vocal flips, and a gorgeous melody, across simple but effective chords.
Mistress came as the positive f-you to the me who have mistreated women like Hunny in their lives, and it certainly hit with a vigour that embraced the torment caused. Revolution is about relishing in being around strong women, and being in a group of strong women who intimidate people. The call to raise fits in the air to represent the feeling weren’t exactly reciprocated at first, but the meaning of the song was. Dedicated to the mothers, Born To Cry soared as a wonderfully finger-picked guitar ballad. The second to last song went out to the LGBTQI+ community that had inspired the song. “Of course to my parents this song is completely hypothetical,” Hunny stated before beginning the semi-self-titled Hunny’s World saw the return of the gimps, dancing sensually behind the bars. “One more, just for fun.” Hunny treated the audience to a final tune, a cover of Sam Smith’s I’m Not The Only One. The a cappella moment Hunny threw in reverberated through the church, sending vibrations through the crowd. The night was over too soon, the host asking people to stay and talk about how good Hunny was. Indeed they would, no questions asked.
Set List:
Get Up, Stand Up
What If
Mistress
Revolution
Born To Cry
Hunny’s World
I’m Not The Only One (Sam Smith cover)
Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.
