LIVE FROM THE PIT: HotWax and Jeanie And The White Boys
- Naomi Colliar Duff
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Hastings alt-rock trio HOTWAX released their debut album Hot Shock almost a year ago today, to the praise and acclaim of both fans and first-time listeners. They embarked on the Hot Shock tour as they set out to celebrate their album, and to further attention and support for a cause very important to them: the Music Venue Trust. The charity exists to protect and preserve grassroots venues, and they made sure the tour dates had an extensive selection of them - like historic Edinburgh venue, the Caves.
It was a cold, damp night in the city as the eager fans entered the venue, and after a short wait, the opener entered. JEANIE AND THE WHITE BOYS took the stage with an inherent swagger, emphasised by touches of style like the guitarist’s indoor sunglasses. They burst immediately into their song Queen Bee, and the eponymous front-woman sparked an electric atmosphere with her immense stage presence.
Halfway through their set, she took the time to introduce herself and the band, announcing “I’m Jeanie, they’re the White Boys.” Later, Jeanie produced a tambourine, holding it high in the air and shaking it like a rattlesnake. She led the fans through songs like Don’t Look Now and Psycho Killer, in-between jokes about how predictable it was that all their songs were about men. They wrapped up in an intense musical frenzy, an intense wall of sound that left the crowd surging with energy and ready for the main act.
As HOTWAX arrived on the scene, it became increasingly clear that everyone gracing the stage this night was a style icon. Lola Sam matched the star straps of her bass to a pair of starry shorts, and Tallulah Sim-Savage strutted out in ruby-red heels that would put Dorothy of Oz to shame. The band were confident, assured, and needed no introduction as they cut right into the killer riffs of Hard Goodbye. As they reached Tell Me Everything’s Alright, the crowd was utterly captivated, singing along to every single word. Strange To Be Here was another crowd favourite, sheer energy emanating from Alfie Sayers as his rapid-fire drumming competed with guitar and bass for dominance. It certainly did not feel strange to be there on this electric night; it felt right.
The band then slowed the pace with Change My Name, a good breather in the otherwise relentless, fast-paced setlist. After, Tallulah switched out her guitar for a beautiful black, velvety one, and they moved into Dress Our Love, with a groovy bassline to set the scene. By this point in the night, the room was bursting with kinetic energy; the two women were interacting directly with front-row fans, leaning over the sizeable amps at the front of the stage as they locked eyes with crowdgoers and sang Treasure. That lively environment was exacerbated when the opening riffs of She’s Got A Problem rang through the venue walls. Halfway, deliberate, focused breakdowns took the main focus, and even those in the crowd who were not excitedly joining the chorus were compelled to nod their heads to the rhythm.
As the set drew to an apparent close, vocalist Tallulah took the time to bring attention to the Music Venue Trust; she stated that this is what was important to them, and that so many venues are shutting down, especially small, grassroots ones they have played before. To finish off her speech, she told the crowd to support venues and go to gigs, before she segued into the next song by saying that they used to play it a lot in small venues. The intense set came to an end with A Thousand Times, and the band left the stage.
The set was not over yet though, and crowd-goers knew that; they were familiar with the age-old trick of the encore, and chants of “one more tune!” soon turned into “here we fucking go!” to which Tallulah emerged and remarked “that’s a new one!”
The fans were then treated to the gentle strums of Pharmacy, and Alfie took up the egg shaker before returning to the drums for One More Reason. His drums were matched only by the rhythmic clapping of hands as Tallulah climbed from the stage into the eager, awaiting arms of the crowd. The band burst into their final, and most-anticipated track, Rip It Out, and it was immediately clear this is what everyone had been waiting for. A mosh pit formed almost instantly, a flurry of bodies hurling themselves around the room. As Lola led into the breakdown, she even joined the pit herself. If there is one thing to be said about HOTWAX, it is that they can make a room feel alive. The atmosphere they left was so strong it lingered even when they left the stage for the night.
HOTWAX are undoubtedly going to keep steadily rising to the top, but even when they are playing to massive crowds, in venues with immense capacities, we know they will still take the time to support and play the grassroots venues they started their journey in - the ones that make live music what it is today.
Words: Naomi Colliar Duff
Photos: Robert Halls
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