By Susanna Borio

Hot Milk, the emo-rock band from Manchester, has already caused quite a stir in the alt-rock music scene. Their sound mixes energetic and genre-blurring influences with honest and emotional lyricism, performed with of course a slight Manchester accent.

With their debut album “A Call To The Void” out on the 25th of August, the band set off on a series of album release parties across the UK. We had the opportunity to catch their London show on the 5th of September.

Before the show

Hosted inside the Signature Brew venue in the middle of nowhere in North London, the band’s acoustic set had people in attendance wondering how they’d translate their energetic and guitar-heavy sound to an intimate venue.

Amongst the brightly-haired usual fans was also a great amount of ex-emos, now sticking out in the crowd looking slightly out of place, sporting Hawaiian shirts and chinos. Along with parents who just “came to be supportive” for their kids.

The wait before the show is filled with an increasing amount of beers and cigarettes. Organised jointly with the iconic music magazine Kerrang! the venue is decked with posters and interactive bits, like selfie mirrors and a whiteboard encouraging people to set their creativity free. This was quickly filled with words of love for the band and a considerable amount of dick drawings, just to showcase the quick effects of alcohol on the crowd’s maturity. For the brave, they also offered the chance of getting tattooed in one of the venue’s bar set-ups, by The Blue Tattoo.

Inside the show

With a background of the brewing boilers, the show felt like a huge basement show.

Their newest album “A Call To The Void” is an emotional piece of work. Expecting the usual high energy, crazy antics that the band is known for, along with the emotional lyrics, general screaming, and upbeat tempos of the album itself, there was an air of mystery on how the show would be transformed into an acoustic one.

However, any doubt was vanished as soon as the show started. Bassist Tom Parton and drummer Harry Deller first appeared on stage wearing the vocalist and guitarist duo Han Mee and Jim Shaw’s clothes, pretending to be them, and started awkwardly singing to an overly amused crowd. Very quickly they were joined by the actual Han and Jim who between banter and chugging beer started an incredibly emotional show.

With spikes of the mike and an unbelievable stage chemistry between the members, the show felt like an intimate event that deserved to be experienced. The song selection lent itself perfectly to the vibe of the show. The stand-out pieces are Alice Cooper’s Pool House and Forget Me Not.

These songs fall on two very different sides of the spectrum of what emo songs can be. Alice Cooper’s Pool House is an upbeat, not taking itself too seriously song with fun lyrics inspired by vocalist Han taking too many mushrooms and tripping really badly. That being said the highlight of the night, however, was Forget Me Not, an incredibly emotional piece dedicated to what it feels like to experience a loved one going through dementia and seeing them lose every memory you still hold.

While most of the album was played, with other notable songs performed like Zoned Out and Breathing Underwater, the show still felt way too short. The crowd could’ve spent hours listening to the band joke around with each other and throw around endless merch.

The show was followed by a hangout session, where everyone was doing the same pre-show activities: drinking beer and smoking too many cigarettes. The band chilling in the room above the bar threw down loose chips before joining their fans downstairs.

What’s to come

On all levels that can be possibly used to judge a musician, Hot Milk is an incredible band. Seeing them on stage, you can truly feel that they are just a couple of emo kids who found an audience, love what they do, and can’t believe that they get to experience all of this with their friends.

Their music is real and they actually have real talent. If you’re sick of watching TikTok influencers make god-awful alternative music to try and fit in with a crowd of 12-year-olds discovering angst for the first time, Hot Milk is exactly what you need. They are passionate, charismatic, and gratifying to watch. You can feel that this is exactly where they should be. Together. On a stage.