29 January 2026 (gig)
5 h
Manchester hosted two international punk rock legends last week, including Rain City Drive and Honey Revenge, and the evening was pure volume with zero mercy.
In the supporting slot for this show were Belmont, who got the crowd roaring and ready in the packed out venue. By the time our first headliner, Rain City Drive, hit the stage, the atmosphere was nothing short of electric.
Kicking their set off with ‘Frozen’, the Floridian four piece appeared confident and, vocally, stronger than their studio recorded tracks, which is incredibly rare in this day and age.
The highlight track of the evening for me was ‘Talk To a Friend’, which showed off their melodic heavy beats combined with emotional, raw and gritty lyrics, paired with vocals that conveyed every emotion perfectly.
Another special moment of Rain City Drive’s set was during ‘Wish You The Best’, where the band showed their ability to interact with the crowd like professionals, getting every person in the packed out, sweaty room to wave their arms as they belted out the track.
By the time we got to Honey Revenge’s set, I am surprised the roof had not blown off the building with the passion and intensity that had been demonstrated on stage all evening.
Honey Revenge were ready and raring as they burst onto the Manchester stage and plunged straight into track one, ‘Risk’. There was not a single gig goer in the audience who was not joining in, belting this out with the band.
As the set went on, you could feel the connection between the band and the audience growing stronger with each track, with both mirroring each other’s enthusiasm. Vocally, this band is pristine, and it is a cocktail combination of rock goddesses gone before us mixed into the singer’s voice that makes them so endearing.
The set moved through further fan favourites such as ‘Rerun’, ‘Worst Apology’ and ‘Poison Apple Baby’, but everyone was eagerly awaiting the band’s ultimate fan favourite, ‘Airhead’.
When Honey Revenge launched into ‘Airhead’, the crowd may have been jumping all night, but they had clearly saved some energy for this moment, smashing and crashing into each other, arm in arm, singing along.
A night of sensational punk rock that I wish I could relive.
Image Credit - @captured.byclxire
