On July 22nd, Hunny ended their West Coast tour at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana. I had already seen them earlier in the month at the Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles. The first show was amazing, so I knew I had to find tickets to one of the sold out OC shows before the tour ended. Luckily, the day before I found tickets last minute on twitter.
My sister and I got to the venue thirty minutes before doors but still ended up in the third row from the front, which was great. The first band to play was pop / garage rock Precious Kid, who we were already fans of since we found their single “Jaded” a few months before they announced a tour with Hunny. They played both “Jaded” and “Dirty Disposition”, their only singles on Spotify, as well as unreleased songs like “Was It Worth the Love Song?” and “Teenage Appetite.” Lead singer, Justine Dorsey, brings so much energy when she performs, it’s easy to get excited about the set while watching her give it her all on stage.
The second opener was Gleemer, a band from Colorado with a moody rock sound that reminds me of a mix of Silversun Pickups and Manchester Orchestra. My two favorite songs that they played were “Gauze” and “Shoulder Pads”. Although their music is enjoyable, it did make me a little sleepy since it was less upbeat than Precious Kid and I wanted to get pumped for Hunny’s set. The lineup may have been better if Gleemer played first so that Precious Kid’s energetic set could amp up the crowd before the headliner.
When Hunny came on stage and started playing their first song “Gilding the Lily,” I knew this show would be even better than the first. The whole crowd was into the performance and started a mosh pit in the middle. In my opinion, the energy of the crowd can make or break a whole show, even if the band playing did amazing. The energy stayed at that intense level throughout the whole set, everyone jumping around and screaming the lyrics back to Jason. Some people went up on stage and tried to crowdsurf during a few songs, but the crowd didn’t do very well at keeping them up.
One of the most memorable parts of the show was during “Rebel Red,” a new song off of their new EP, Windows II. The whole crowd was full of energy and a bubble machine started sending bubbles all over above the crowd and around the band. It was so surreal and everyone was dancing and singing the words. The thing that made the moment distinctly memorable was seeing lead singer Jason Yarger smile at how involved the crowd was, especially because the song was released less than a month before the show. It made me happy seeing his reaction to how much his fans love the newer music.
During the last song, “Televised”, Jason got into the crowd right next to me and danced with everyone for the last part of the song before ending the show. Looking back, I wish I could live at that show forever. It was probably the best show I’ve ever been to, both because of the performance and because of the energy of the crowd. Next time Hunny is on tour, I completely recommend going to a show, even if you haven’t heard much of their music. Hopefully I’ll see you there and we can dance to “Natalie” together!
