Date of show: July 13, 2012
We’ve seen HONHEEHONHEE a bunch of times now and, though we know their shows have gotten crazy before, this show at the Silver Dollar was by far their sweatiest show we’ve seen yet. As always, lead vocals (Greg Halpin and sometimes Matt Raudsepp) and instruments were exchanged, with the three guys up front switching between guitar, bass and keys. They were short a lady (Erin Halpin), which is perhaps why this show felt like the ultimate bro-fest, though there were many ladies right up front screaming along with the band.
With such unbridled energy, it should be no surprise that there were many antics on stage. At one point, Stefan F.-Gow, who was wearing his swim trunks from earlier in the day, donned a Peter Pan hat (apparently from their “Never Grow Up” tour). Later, he climbed up where the seats were. Topanga’s Steve Sladkowski, shaker in hand, jumped up on stage to join the band for a song. For their final song, all four of the guys took off their shirts, which is actually not too unusual for this band. As a shirtless Halpin put his arms around his shirtless bandmates, it was evident that the performance is just as fun for them as it is for the crowd.
While HONHEEHONHEE is incredibly fun to watch, it’s their infectious songs that invite the crowd to sing and shout along (as their album title, Shouts, suggests) that make this band more than just a gimmick. As the band screams “whoa-oh, whoa-oa, hey hey” or “we never sleep,” most in the crowd can’t help but shout along. If you haven’t seen HONHEEHONHEE yet, you’re missing out. It’s no surprise that this Montreal-based band draws more and more fans every time we see them.
There’s something incredibly exciting about watching a good band grow and develop. For this reason, we’re stoked to see Dangerband whenever we can. Their high-energy music goes along great with HONHEEHONHEE, so that made seeing their set even more enticing. Their tight pop rock and roll is just so darn catchy and so much fun.
As we’ve seen before, the band draws quite the crowd whenever they play, with many of their friends to support them. Bassist Jackson Beyer had to ask the crowd to move up a few steps to get close to the stage, but then the crowd got really into it. With sing-a-longs and lots of rocking out, it was exciting being in that young crowd. I walked away from the set having the lyrics “I hate you’re stupid boyfriend. He sucks, why can’t you see? I hate your stupid boyfriend. He’s not as cool as me” stuck in my head. All. Damn. Week. (Or at least I think those are the lyrics!)
You can see Dangerband on August 25th with Topanga at the Horseshoe Tavern. It’s another bill they fit quite well on and I expect the whole night to be awesome.
buying shots for bands 
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