It’s an early-doors start at The Forum tonight, but this Sunday session is a sell-out…and that’s not surprising, because headliners HotWax are the current darlings of the indie/grunge/rock circuit – and for good reason.
Today isn’t just a celebration of their music and rise to (almost) household name status, it’s also bass player Lola Sam’s 21st birthday…and that’s a reminder that this is a band we’ve been following and plugging at every opportunity for more than five years now. A band who’ve spent the best part of their teenage years honing their songbook and their stagecraft. A band who’ve played across Europe and America at festivals, supporting huge names like Royal Blood, and who’ve also put in a tonne of their own headline shows for good measure.
All photos by www.sarabowreyphotos.com
A favourite of the likes of former NME journalist and Louder Than War head-honcho John Robb, as well as the Rocketman himself, Sir Elton John, HotWax simply have that extra little sparkle that sets them apart from their contemporaries.
The three-piece (with Lola joined by Tallulah Sim-Savage on lead guitar and Vox, and Alfie Sayers on the skins) started their musical journey in Hastings – watching the steady rise of neighbours including Kid Kapichi and Nova Twins, and no doubt picking up a few lessons along the way. They were also aided in their plans by Tallulah’s proud (but not pushy) parents – and, of course, having a dad on hand with his own recording studio and a string of production credits to his name certainly doesn’t hurt.
So, having now outgrown many of the regular Hastings live haunts, but not being quite ready to take on the local 1,000+ capacity venues at White Rock or De La Warr (where they did however, play a foyer in-store recently to mark the launch of their debut album – the Top 40 chart entry, ‘Hot Shock’), The Forum in Tunbridge Wells was the obvious choice for this birthday celebration.
THE SCIMITARS
It was a night of three parts, and opening proceedings were The Scimitars, a band who are so new to the scene that many made the fatal mistake of not even noticing they were playing the early set. This meant that, although by the time HotWax hit the stage the room was full to capacity, it was a relatively modest number who had the privilege to get an early listen of a band who have serious potential.
Almost invisible to the internet at present (apart from the seed of an Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/the_scimitars, plus the intro to just one song on Soundcloud), The Scimitars certainly have one thing going for them – and that’s a committed lead singer.
Despite The Scimitars only being in existence for a few months, he already has the curved sword the band is named after carved on his arm!
Frustratingly I made the error of thinking ‘this is great, I’ll have a proper listen when I get home’ – and so totally failed to make any notes at the time of the emotions conjured up by the music. I just got into it and enjoyed the ride.
Next time I promise to pay more critical attention. But in the meantime, go check them out.
THE PILL
Next up was The Pill (https://www.thepillband.com/), who, like HotWax, are another three-piece, two-girl-one-boy band – and who are one of the best five acts to have emerged from the Isle of Wight. Ever.
(The other four, in case you need reminding, are The Bees, Level 42, Coach Party, Lauren Hibberd and Wet Leg… in whatever order takes your fancy).
With festival slots booked for the summer at the likes of The Great Escape, Latitude and Wilderness, The Pill (fronted by Lily Hutchings, and Lottie Massey on guitar/vocals and bass respectively, and with Rufus Reader on drums), are that breath-of-fresh-air punk trio who you always hope you will stumble on in whatever field you are calling home for a long weekend.
They have a catchy delivery which a little like (but gratefully different from) Panic Shack, and their banter between songs is gleefully cheeky and irreverent – even with their mums in the room on Mother’s Day.
Tackling tough subjects such as online grooming with insightful lyrics and an onslaught of fierce guitar riffs, The Pill are just the medicine you might need.
HOTWAX
Last up it’s HotWax, and the front rows of the crowd tells its own fantastic story.
Hard-nosed long-in-the-tooth music journalists, experienced rock photographers, and dads with their ten-year old offspring jostle for space with that increasingly rare thing to see these days – a respectable number of 18-20 year-olds out in the wild, watching live music in a grass roots venue.
We’ve been saying it for ages, that one of the reasons that places like The Forum are at long term risk isn’t the danger of redevelopment or rising costs – it’s the fact that the old guard of live music fans won’t be around forever. And whilst there will always be young bands and musicians trying to re-invent one genre or give birth to another, it won’t matter much if there isn’t a new generation of ticket-buying fans willing to give up their time and increasingly hard-earned money to experience live music by new artists.
And tonight wasn’t just refreshing in terms of the audience mix… the sound quality was also exceptional, and this helped lift the performance several notches above the last few HotWax festival gigs I’ve been to, where the curse of the average found nuances of guitar and lyrics fighting to rise to prominence.
Although festivals are our bread and butter, it has to be said that whilst they may be fantastic opportunities to find new bands, whenever you get that feeling that something you get into on the day wasn’t quite as good as it should have been, do make the effort to get out and see the band again when they are playing their own show with time to get everything right.
It’s absolutely fair to say that tonight a combination of a band on fire and a great sound system totally delivered the goods.
My aching bones at the end of the show are ample testament to how even this old body can be reinvigorated by music.
Tallulah’s stage presence has bloomed over the last year or so, and both her voice and her guitar playing have strengthened enormously. What many saw in her early years on the stage as a promising potential has matured rapidly into her becoming a confident and charismatic performer. She might not tell her life story or tell tour-bus jokes between songs – but those songs are all the story you need.
Lola is a force of nature as she prowls the space available to her, never missing a chord or a beat and craning her face and the neck of her bass into the front row of the audience with an angry glint in her eye at any chance. She’s the one who takes the plunge to leave the safety of the stage towards the end of the gig and braves the mosh pit to the delight of those around her.
On the drums, Alfie simply hold it all together. He’s one of those natural talents who makes everything seem so easy, whilst at the same time banging out dextrous rhythms that ensure the timing of every song stays firmly in place.
HotWax are seemingly never off the road these days – so make sure you take the opportunity to see them the next time you get the chance.
FULL GALLERY
