Covid restrictions meant the venue was all seating and I was quick to book a table for four and to confirm that I wanted the one just to the left of the centre of the stage where I usually manage to sit thanks to careful planing and long queueing.
The timing of the concert meant that it made sense to eat at the pub beforehand which I had not done before. The vegetarian mock-chicken burger with katsu curry sauce did the job nicely as did the pint of Young's Ordinary (apparently it is called Original now but everybody who knows beer ignores that).
Covid had an impact on Honeyslides too and the previous four piece band plus backing singer was abridged to just Tom Billington, who plays Neil Young, and Luke (surname not found on Google), who plays everyone else.
Covid had also given time for Luke to hone his piano playing and the keyboard was a new feature for Honeyslides.
With the reduced line-up it was no surprise that the set focussed on Neil Young's acoustic songs, of which there are a great many. Many, like Needle and the Damage Done and Sugar Mountain, were already established in the Honeyslides set and these were joined by songs like Thrasher (from Rust Never Sleeps) which I was particularly pleased to hear.
They also managed to play all of After The Gold Rush along the way, complete with a short break to allow the record to be turned over.
Being acoustic did not mean that they could not rock and we had powerful versions of Like a Hurricane, Powderfinger, Cowgirl in the Sand and Rocking in the Free World.
The Honeyslides are all about the quality of the songs and the quality of their delivery; the quantity was an impressive bonus with the set running for well over two hours.
Covid restrictions brought many changes to the venue, band and setlist but this was still a Honeyslides gig and an excellent one at that.
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