“Welcome to the (Horror) Show”
As Hot Milk would sing in their opening song “Horror Show”- an unapologetic song about not caring about what society thinks about them. Fronted by lead vocals and guitar- Han Mee, second lead vocals and guitar- Jim Shaw, bass guitar- Tom Paton and drums- Harry Deller.
Performing an intimate show at The Parish Room inside the House of Blues Anaheim in Anaheim, California, you immediately feel like you are transported into an old, restored church as colorful stained glass windows are high on the walls, curtains draping down, an old clock behind the stage and chandeliers floating above
All the way from Manchester, United Kingdom, Hot Milk brought their infectious rocker energy and dynamic stage presence. There wasn’t a moment where Mee wasn’t running all over the stage, jumping around and igniting the band and the crowd with energy- so much that during their song “Zoned Out”, Mee instructed the whole room to get up off their feet and jump, I literally felt the whole floor shaking and couldn’t help but enjoy the moment and jump myself.
Making sure their fans had the best time of their lives, Hot Milk was committed to the phrase, “The Show Must Go On”. Mee took a short fall off the stage from being so passionately lost in the music as she was rocking out on stage but that didn’t stop her as she laid on the floor and kept singing, then laughed it off after. Technical difficulties arose as Mee’s microphone and in-ear monitors stopped working but without missing a beat she picked up Shaw’s microphone and kept singing. What makes Hot Milk so unique is having two lead vocalists, exchanging energy from male and female vocals. Sharing one mic, Mee and Shaw knew their parts so well it’s like they practiced for this moment, one or the other would run to each other knowing it was their part to sing.
More challenges arose on stage as it seems that Shaw’s guitar may have stopped connecting. The band took a short break off stage to recoup and energetically came back.
“Sorry we’re poor!”, as Mee jokes about their gear giving out, “This church is cursed!”, as she continues to joke and reference to the look of The Parish Room. “My mic isn’t working, I can’t hear myself, do you want me to sing the rest of the set with Jim’s mic?!”. The crowd cheered with roaring approval, being understanding about the technical difficulties and thrilled the show can go on.
Shaw was seen by the soundboard playing guitar for the rest of the show, playing all his parts while making sure the sound was working for everyone as smooth as possible. This small bump in the road stopped no energy for the band as Mee jumped on the barrier to sing in the faces of fans and plunged into the crowd for “Party On My Deathbed”, as fans lifted her up to crowdsurf while she continued singing.
“Split Personality” a charged song that commands chaos and relentless energy, Mee tells the room to open up and make a giant hole in the middle so a mosh pit can start when the song kicks in. “You…” Mee points to a gentleman close to the edge of the open mosh pit, “..come here, come stand in the middle”. The man more than willing to be in the center knowing what was about to happen, as the fast paced song hit the chorus, the controlled chaos ensued as bodies collided in the mosh pit to the energy and exhilaration of the song.
Hot Milk’s infectious energy and passion to give everything they have in every performance is translated and returned back on the mark they leave on their fans.
You can feel this same energy by catching them on tour this summer opening up for the world famous Blink-182, and many music festivals including Sad Summer, 2000 Trees, Pukkelpop and on tour with Palaye Royale in the fall.
