Despite it being a rainy Thursday night, a line of girls with buzzcuts and fishnets and boys in Doc Martens snaked from both entrances of the The Wardrobe. Each fan was effortlessly cool, much like Scottish duo Honeyblood. With support from Manchester foursome PINS, the night was destined for unapologetic adrenaline-infused girl power.
PINS were something special. Radiating rebellion and female empowerment, they swaggered about the stage with magnetic cool and grungy spark. After beckoning all the girls to the front, frontwoman Faith Holgate stepped down from the stage and started a playful grrrl mosh with guttural anthem ‘Girls Like US’. PINS’ set was so good, it felt as if the gig had finished once they left the stage.
But things had only just begun. “Are you ready for the magic?” joked vocalist/guitarist Stina Tweeddale as the two surged immediately into scratchy ‘Ready For The Magic’. On the first pulse of Cat Myers’ symbol, drinks flew and so did some members of the crowd as they bounced around to the sugary hardboiled shoegaze; this energy swelled as the two swaggered into the inky darkness of ‘Love Is A Disease.’
With Myers’ drum kit right at the front of the stage, the gig felt like an intimate session in the girl’s practice room. This intimacy radiated through the pair’s anecdotes and pure bants. After introducing us to their honorary synth bassist, Sebastian (who is allegedly having “an affair with PINS’ keyboard”) and complimenting the crowd for being the best dancers they’ve seen, they continued their set of bewitching hooks and beckoning harmonies with the euphorically scuzzy ‘Sea Hearts’.
A floor-filling mosh broke out to the pulsing chorus of empowering tune ‘Babes Never Die’, and as the set reached its end, the heavenly chords of collective favourite ‘Super Rat’ blanketed the room. The crowd blissfully shouted back lyrics “I will hate you forever”- a paradox to the undeniable love the crowd has for Honeyblood.
It’s apparent that the hype for these babes will never die.
Meg Firth
(Image: NME)