One of the best things for an up and coming band is to jump on a major tour with an established artist. It helps the band get in front of thousands of people and can push their music to people that may have never heard them faster than getting in a Spotify playlist. One band that is about to embark on two killer summer tours is Hot Milk. This English pop rock band is about to be the opening band for the next Blink 182 tour, and the fan loved Sad Summer Fest Tour. Before either of these could start, Hot Milk booked a headlining show at the House of Blues in Anaheim, CA as one big hurrah to their fans to enjoy a longer set by the band. Fans started lining up at 9am the morning of the show as they wanted to be in the front row. Just goes to show how diehard these fans can be.

Opening the show was a band known as Mercy Music. I didn’t know what to expect from the opener but was hoping for something upbeat and exciting. Mercy Music shattered and surpassed any expectations I could have within the first few moments of their show. Just by getting on stage, each member stepped on the amps and catapulted themselves onto the stage. Launching into their opening track “Fuck Me Anyways,” Mercy Music was there to put on a performance. We were in the small room of the House of Blues, but the band made the most of their limited stage space. Bassist Jarred Cooper was constantly jumping around the stage and shoving the body of his bass right into the front of the stage, letting fans hear him pluck away. Guitarist and vocalist Brendan Scholz sounds like he came out of the early 90’s pop punk boom. With his vocal talents, the melodies he writes, and the guitar solo he slips into the songs. Drummer Ryan Seaman was pounding away on his light up drum kit. Which added even more flair and personality to the band. With songs like “Love You/Need You,” “Watch Me Drown,” “Found Out I’m Useless,” “Suddenly,” “Living With a Ghost,” “REAL,” and ending with “Fine.” I would call Mercy Music the love child of Green Day and the Offspring with the live energy of the Ramones. If you are a fan of punk, then Mercy Music should be checked out.

Then it was time for Hot Milk, the band that was about to have one of their best summer support gigs starting the next day. The fans were already jumping and screaming with excitement as the band walked out to “Welcome to the…” playing. Kicking into “Horror Show” co-vocalist Han Mee unleashed her chaotic frontwoman energy to the crowd. Running back and forth across the stage, grinding and dancing to her own music, and jumping all around the place. Mee got so lost in the ecstasy of the performance, that she unfortunately slipped off the stage at one point falling straight to the floor. Thankfully she was ok and in good spirits as security came to help her up. She just laughed at herself and the moment that occurred before picking herself back up and jumping back into the performance. Co-vocalist and guitarist Jim Shaw appeared to be the more restrained one compared to Mee’s on stage antics, as he was flowing with his guitar through the songs, and sharing the mic with Mee for some of Hot Milk’s best chorus’s. Bassist Tom Paton was vibing in the back of the stage next to drummer Harry Deller who was grooving with the kit.

Hot Milk always gives everything they have to their fans, and you can see it on their faces that they are having fun. Sadly, this House of Blues show was marred by some technical difficulties. The PA system seemed to not be sending signal to every band members in ears. As well as multiple microphone failures caused Mee and Shaw to pass the only working microphone back and forth to each other. None the less, the band continued to give the crowd everything they had. Shaw even polled the crowd asking if we wanted them to take a few moments to try and fix the PA, or just continue with Mee being the only singer. The crowd overwhelmingly cheered to just keep playing with Mee being the only singer, and the crowd graciously filled in all of Shaw’s vocal parts. This helped to lift Hot Milk’s spirits through all the technical difficulties, and the band continued to give us everything they had that night for songs like “BLOODSTREAM,” “I JUST WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I’M DEAD,” “ALICE COOPER’S POOL PARTY,” “Bad Influence,” “ZONED OUT,” “OVER YOUR DEAD BODY,” “Wide Awake,” “PARTY ON MY DEATHBED,” “Split Personality,” and ending with “Glass Spiders.”

Hot Milk were nothing but professional as they worked through all the pitfalls that continued to happen almost one after another. Han Mee even mentioned that they hope all their gear works the next day when they play the first opening gig for Blink 182. And I have word from friends that were at that Blink 182 show, that Hot Milk’s performance went off with no issues! Even with all the technical difficulties that plagued the performance, it did not take away from the fans’ enjoyment of the show. If anything, it made the show a more unique experience and one that we will all remember. Hot Milk comes back to Los Angeles on July 6th, opening for Blink 182, and I will for sure be in the crowd. If you can’t catch the Blink 182 tour, then I highly recommend checking your local listings for the Sad Summer Fest Tour, as you do not want to miss Hot Milk this summer.