Hot Milk – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester – 22/11/2025

First on the bill tonight was Silly Goose, a Nu-metal band from Atlanta, who brought heavy bass, string vocals and lots of attitude. The bassist, Yalli Alvares, was airborne for most of the show while lead singer, Jackson Foster, unleashed riotous screams and guitarist, Ian Binion, carried the heavy riffs. Jackson told the crowd about how it was their first time overseas and that they had their mugshot, from a pop-up show at a petrol station getting shut down a few months ago, printed on their merch before disappearing into the crowd at the end of their set. They finished up their set with ‘Bad Behaviour’ which seemed to be a hit in the mosh pits.

Next up was Cassyette who made her way onto the stage, complete with a black bow in her hair, ready to unleash some ferocious growls. Starting with ‘September Rain’ before leading into one of two unreleased songs that we were previewed; ‘Oops!’ which was a fun upbeat number about making mistakes but having fun doing it anyway. By the third song, she had fans up on their friend’s shoulders and the crowd surfers had started coming over the barrier as she kept the energy up and effortlessly switched between clean vocals and fierce screams. She continued with fan favourites ‘Ipecac’, ‘Dead Roses’ and ‘Petrichor’ before revelling another unreleased track ‘Boyfriend’ which was another upbeat flirty track with a similar sound to her older work. She then climbed down onto the barrier to finish her set with ‘Dear Goth’, allowing the fans to hear her immense growls up close. 

Hot Milk once again cemented their spot as one of the most exciting acts to come out of the UK in recent years. Finishing up their headline tour in celebration of their recent album ‘Corporation P.O.P’ with a hometown headline show and their biggest headline to date at O2 Victoria Warehouse. From the get-go, it was evident how much Manchester meant to the band as they performed their high energy set, beaming from ear to ear. They went all out on the production for this show, from having an insane light show that created the perfect atmosphere for their live performance, to a perfectly curated setlist and even a margarita tech side stage. 

They stormed onto stage to ‘Hell is on its way’ which was the perfect opening song before leading into ‘Swallow this’. Fans could be seen singing all the lyrics to each other throughout the show and not long after the stream of crowd surfers began again. All around the venue there was small groups of friends who had met through the band enjoying the show together and telling other fans how they’d met at previous shows and travelled far to be there that night. 

Setlist consisted of a good mix of fan favourites and new songs from the latest album broken up nicely with interludes ‘Machine Elves’ and ‘Sediments’. ‘Insubordinate Ingerland’ was dedicated to the “idiots who put up St. Georges flags on roundabouts because they have no hobbies”. They then led into ‘Candy Coated Lie$ (nightmare version)’ which was a highlight of the evening for me. They had rearranged one of their first singles to be much heavier with drilling bass, hard-hitting paradiddles, and heavy riffs which along with the venue acoustics sounded so insane!

Han Mee made several speeches about how appreciative she is of everything that Manchester, the band, and fans have given her. She made sure her proudness was felt throughout the venue and it was certainly reciprocated by all the fans in attendance. Another highlight of the show was the stripped back version of ‘BREATHING UNDERWATER’ which was super emotional as the fans sang along in chorus. They finished up their set with ‘Glass Spiders’ before coming back for a three-song encore consisting of ‘Sympathy Symphony’, ‘PARTY ON MY DEATHBED’ and ‘Chase The Dragon’. A big standout moment for me was during ‘Sympathy Symphony’, Han See sat down on the edge of the stage and allowed Jim Shaw to have his moment as he sang his solo and his vocals lit up the venue. The crowd fell completely silent as they were awestruck. This solo really stood out to me on the album but was even more incredible live. Han Mee crowd surfed out into the crowd before returning to the stage to end with ‘Chase The Dragon’, a love letter to their fans, ‘sending them off with love’. 

Hot Milk shows always bring the energy but this hometown show just felt so much more special than any of their shows I’ve been to previously. They stayed for a while at the end of the show throwing out guitar picks and dancing, making sure their fans felt as special as they did. It was wonderful seeing so many different demographics feeling safe to express themselves in the crowd whether that was jumping in the mosh pits or just singing along with friends at the side. Hot Milk have created such a safe and inclusive space for everyone and really deserve their flowers.