Summer 2019 in NYC has officially begun!! We end the first weekend of summer on a high note.  To begin the hot season, we get a double dose of Hot Water Music at St Vitus. When it comes to a band that delivers the perfect essence of post hardcore, punk and emo, Hot Water Music delivered the perfect melody and vibe to send New York music lovers into the summer full of music that awaits us. Just playing Brooklyn in April, playing their albums Caution and No Division, many people were happy to get another double dose of this group and you can see why people will always come out to see this Florida punks. While we begin our summer, a new era of Hot Water Music begins with signing to Epitaph. It is exciting to see what this band is going to bring on their next album with a new label and Chris Cresswell playing with the band.

Upon entering the Matinee at St Vitus 6/23, the venue was already packed when the bar opened at 2pm. The show that would be held later that night was already sold out and this matinee wasn’t to far from that either. Many people were excited to see the limited T-Shirts with the Hot Water Music logo merged with the St Vitus logo in one. If you weren’t at the shows on this date, you will never see these shirts again. It was a great way to convince people to come out to the show to get some limited merch you wont find elsewhere.

Opening the stage, we get Beach Rats who was a perfect band to open this bill. Everyone who came to see Hot Water Music that day was just as impressed and got the perfect essence of raw and heavy punk to hold them over. A super group that consists of members of Minor Threat, Bad Religion, The Bouncing Souls and more. You wont get more hardcore punk than that. Just a quick blistering half hour set with pure distortion and aggression that is in your face and to the point. Many people who came to see Hot Water Music were pleased and started this double dose of a show on a great note.

At last, at 4pm, we get Hot Water Music. These guys can be considered the grandfathers of post hardcore and modern punk. These guys can easily play a hardcore matinee with Agnostic Front, or play on Warped Tour. They were able to play 19 songs and keep the audience 100% engaged whether they were playing older or newer material. Chris, Chuck, Jason and George did not have a static moment on stage. Constantly moving around bringing their own rhythm that went along with the music they played. While they were very tight in their performance by not seeming to mess up a single note or beat, they were completely raw with their sound and interaction. The audience was engaged and moving along to the music as well. Being that this was a matinee show on a Sunday, it would not have been a shocker if people were coming in tired and/or hungover and wanted to just sit and watch the band play. The audience was just as great to watch as the band on stage.

As we walked out into the sunlight at 5pm, we were able officially say that it is summer time in NYC and hopes are high for what the world of rock and metal has in store for this summer. Many dedicated fans stuck around to catch the second Hot Water Music performance while others charged to the merch booth. By attending the matinee show, it felt like a time warp of going back to the early days of NYC with hardcore and punk matinees at CBGBs and Coney Island High. Many young fans who were present at the show got a real good feel of what Hot Water Music was like back in the early days to how great they sound now.

Pictures by Jonathan Arevalo

Hot Water Music’s latest EP Shake up the Shadows out via Epitaph