Photo from MTV.com
Last night, May 22, Hot Water Music played the Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee, WI. The band was incredible, as always, and last night marked the fifth time I've been lucky enough to see them perform live, and now in two different states!
The show opened with Hostage Calm, which was OK. They had a lot of strange tempo changes and I wasn't digging them. The vocals weren't very good either. Second was Make Do and Mend, which I actually liked a lot. They were a bit heavier, a lot louder and more put together. They still didn't really do it for me, but I liked their stage presence and their set was good, overall. Before Hot Water Music played, a band called Fireworks played, and they were OK as well. They reminded me of New Found Glory, in that they were very poppy and jumpy and high-pitched. The music was good, and I saw Chuck Ragan watching them and bobbing his head, but I couldn't get into it. Luckily, the venue had seating, so it didn't feel like an eternity sitting through three bands to see Hot Water Music (we had also been in Milwaukee since about 2 p.m., walking around, drinking and killing time, so we were already tired).
Hot Water Music took the stage around 10:30 p.m., and opened with "A Flight and a Crash," and it was like suddenly, I had all the energy in the world. the crowd went nuts and instantly, a mosh pit in the middle broke out, lasting the entire set. It was intense, but not violent, just people moving around more or less, and not so heavy on the pushing side. A lot of people fell down, but nobody got injured, which was nice. They played for an hour, and their set was great. I really wanted to hear "Southeast First" and "Free Radio Gainesville," but they played some of my other favorite songs off No Division, so that was awesome. The band looked like it was having a good time as always, and as always, they made it known that they were happy to be there and thanked us all, which is always nice, and puts us more on the same level. Not many bands take a minute to thank everyone for putting them on a stage, but Hot Water Music is among the most humble and it's one of the many little things I love about that band. They maintained a high-energy crowd and I know I was singing along to every song, and was left wanting more after an hour. They left the stage and promptly, a crowd of stomping feet and clapping hands lured the band back to its place on the stage. They played "Hard To Know" and "Turnstile" as an encore before the night was finally over. One of the stagehands handed me a set list and I bought a new Hot Water Music T-shirt, a couple of pins and a copy of their split 7'' with The Bouncing Souls.
Setlist:
A Flight and a Crash
Giver
Rooftops
Trusty Chords
Old Rules
Jack of All Trades
Paper Thin
Poison
Our Own Way
All Heads Down
At the End of a Gun
Wayfarer
The Sense
Swinger
Remedy
Manual
Encore:
Hard To Know
Turnstile
2 comments:
What a fun show! I have now seen Hot Water Music in three different states. I am one lucky lady.
Nice! What was the third?
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