After a quiet start to the year gig wise we were back at it on Friday night when The Covasettes dropped into Glasgow and now our Saturday night also has a headline show from Hastings-Brighton three piece HotWax. We’ve previously seen the band supporting Nova Twins back in October, a headline show at Nice n Sleazy’s back in April and also a debut at the TRNSMT Festival in July, so we knew what to expect: alternative rock with a punch of punk energy for good measure.
As we arrived the support band Jeanie and the White Boys were just taking to the stage, singer Jeanie Crystal sounded like she was on the verge of losing her voice and this had an impact on hearing what was being sang at times. They offered a high-energy performance with different musical influences and tracks about paedophiles, sleeping with posh people and more, so they certainly didn’t shy away from controversial subject matter! 6/10
HotWax released debut album Hot Shock in March 2025 – you can read the Bring The Noise review HERE, we would get to hear all but one of the tracks from that very album tonight (Lights On being the song left out) on a tour that is supported by Music Venue Trust, a charity that helps up and coming bands around the UK become more established. Tallulah Sim-Savage (vocals & guitar), Lola Sam (bass & backing vocals) and Alfie Sayers (drums) took to the stage just before 9pm to a massive cheer from the enthusiastic crowd, the energy levels are palpable as the set kicks off with two from the Hot Shock album – Hard Goodbye and Wanna Be A Doll. All three band members are giving their all already as Lola showcases some extreme skills on the bass while Tallulah is thrashing it out on the guitar already as well as offering some high octane vocals, the crowd are lapping this up. Tell Me Everything’s Alright was the last release from HotWax back in July 2025 and it sounding as good as every tonight. We then move back to the Hot Shock album for a few more, the intensity of the music is full-on now and this is reflected in the small group of us down the front bouncing along to Strange To Be Here and Dress Our Love. These tracks are intertwined by two new ones in Change My Name and Paint It Nice, we can confirm that both songs went down well with the Glasgow crowd.
Treasure from the EP A Thousand Times is one of the highlights of the set for us, as is the short but sweet She’s Got A Problem which is a track we can’t get enough off, it has an explosive energy that makes you want to just bounce up and down … and that we did down the front. The basement venue on Nelson Mandela Square was just about filled to capacity and that helped to make it a Saturday night to remember, this was actually our first visit to Room 2 and we found it was a decent addition to the many other Glasgow venues. Drop keeps the energy levels high in the crowd but on the stage Tallulah and Lola seem to be loving every minute of this, the raw energy emanating from the stage is unreal at times, the school friends have great synchronicity during their performances adding more fuel to the fire. In Her Bedroom begins at a slow pace before exploding into life while there is time for yet another unreleased song with Lie There, this is quickly followed by fans favourite A Thousand Times and Chip My Teeth For You that end the main set.
The encore has two more from Hot Shock starting with Pharmacy, then the excellent One More Reason leads into Rip It Out, allowing us one more chance to let go. The enthusiastic crowd are singing the chorus back at them and yours truly breaks out in some ‘freestyle dad dancing’ to end a memorable night of music. The HotWax sound is catching on, see them in a smaller venue while you can! 10/10
Witten by: Alan Brown
