Live Review: HotWax - Chalk, Brighton 13/02/26
The Hastings-via-Brighton trio cap off their UK tour with a triumphant headline show in their (half) hometown.
The last time HotWax played Chalk, the versatile Brighton spot which doubles as both a nightclub and music venue, it was as part of 2025’s The Great Escape festival. There aren’t headliners per say at The Great Escape, but HotWax certainly felt like one. Fiery and raucous, their set was undoubtedly one of the best of the weekend.
Now, just under a year later, the alt-rock trio are back at Chalk, capping off the UK leg of the headline tour in support of debut album Hot Shock. London’s Jeanie and the White Boys have been supporting for much of the tour, and they kick things off tonight with a potent mix of punk attitude and modern blues music, the former emanating from livewire frontwoman Jeanie, who ensures the audience are suitably riled up for the evening.
When HotWax emerge a good half an hour later, expectations are high. Chalk has filled up nicely, and as Irma Thomas’s ‘Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)’ plays over the speakers, a hush of anticipation falls over the noticeably multi-generational crowd. Bursting onto the stage with the ironically titled (in this context) Hard Goodbye, the trio get off to a flying start. Lead singer and guitarist Tallulah Sim Savage expertly shifts from snappy verses to a falsetto-based, lightly psychedelic chorus, while bassist Lola Sam drives the song forward with a beefy, bristling bassline. Drummer Alfie Sayers, meanwhile, is on hand to provide a propulsive beat, though he spends most of the song delivering frenetic fills.
It’s fair to say that this sonic combination is essentially the HotWax formula, and it’s a winning one at that. Much of the set sees the band tinkering with this signature sound in various ways, starting with the second song ‘Wanna Be A Doll’, a jagged, chord-heavy track which boasts an anthemic chorus and scratchy mid-song solo. It’s followed up by a boisterous rendition of ‘Tell Me Everything’s Alright’, before the rousing ‘Strange to Be Here’ concludes what has been a fiercely impressive opening salvo. The grungy ‘Change My Name’ marks the evening’s first foray into non-‘Hot Shock’ material, though it isn’t long before the band are back showcasing last year’s acclaimed debut record, via the infectiously distorted stomp of ‘Dress Our Love’.
Unreleased track ‘Paint It Nice’ is up next, featuring some razor-sharp guitar work from Savage, though it’s the next tune, ‘Treasure’, which really sets Chalk alight. Up to this point, the audience have clearly been enjoying the set immensely, but there hasn’t been loads in the way of movement. Lola Sam is about to change all that. “Come closer and move about”, she asserts, before adding “if you like”, almost sheepishly. The unrehearsed nature of her address is incredibly endearing, and as a result a sizeable mosh pit duly forms down the front. ‘Treasure’ turns out to be the perfect song to christen the pit with, full off headbanging grooves and swaggering speedups. The following song, ‘She’s Got a Problem’, isn’t as fast or dynamic, but excels instead as a moody grower which recalls the likes of Hole in its existential punchiness.
The fuzz-drenched freight train that is ‘Drop’ proceeds to unleash a vigorous bout of moshing, before the band tone things down with the largely slow-burn ‘In Her Bedroom’, though in signature HotWax fashion, the chorus does explode into a chaotic cacophony of sound. ‘Lie There’ gets the crowd jumping with its crunchy chorus, while ‘A Thousand Times’ reveals a softer, hazier side to the band, utilising a trippy heaviness which surely provokes flashbacks for the not-insignificant number of punters who remember the 90s.
The devilishly dark ‘Chip My Teeth for You’ closes out the main set, and after the inevitable cries of “one more song!”, the band return, treating us instead to a 3-song encore. Beginning with the quietly powerful, semi-acoustic album closer ‘Pharmacy’, it’s an atmospheric moment of respite after what has been a pretty unrelenting gig.
It’s not long before we’re treated to two final full-throttle anthems, though, with the bouncy build of ‘One More Reason’ effortlessly bridging the gap between ‘Pharmacy’, and ‘Rip It Out’, a raw sonic blast which sees Savage fully embrace the shreddy scream she’s sprinkled throughout the set. It’s no wonder that the song was used to soundtrack a dramatic breakdown sequence in the recent film ‘Anniversary’, such is the potency and passion of its chorus.
If that’s any indication of the kind of exposure HotWax are going to achieve in the coming years, then tonight's Chalk crowd should count themselves lucky, for catching a band on the edge of ascendance.
Words by Ben Left
