First things first, Sheffield’s Corporation nightclub is a sweaty venue on a good day. Sheff’s best night club has been on a storming round of shows as of late, as we recently also caught EyehateGod at their show in December. There are few venues as perfectly suited to a dirty, sold out Hot Milk show, but the rate that this first night of the UK dates was a clear sign of some chaos brewing in South Yorkshire
Mouth Culture
First to pummel the speakers is the band that has seemingly been everywhere lately, Mouth Culture. Some discrepancies on adverts for the show had fans questioning if MC would be joining on this night, and thankfully they were, although this set could’ve made a case for them having a headline show of their own in Corps black box stage in the future. The crowd don’t need much convincing to get involved as soon as Mouth Culture drop into the no frills ‘No Shame’ and ‘Sharkbait’ back to back to open the set. Vocalist Jack Voss is the picture of what Sheffield likes in a front man, with emo curls over his face and gruff voice saying “Sheffield, you’ve got me in love”. The band don’t really have much time to mess around, as the 8pm start time for them and Corp’s very consistent curfew means they rattle through ‘Dead in Love’ and ‘Ratbag’ as they continue to play one on and one off of the most recent Whatever The Weather EP. They rattle through ‘Everyday’ as the last of their 2024 material and bassist Todd Groome and Mason Clifford on guitar are in various states of dampness with it going south fast, while Voss forgoes the shirt all together. The Leicestermen close out the set with the chops that clearly got them on the radar of other bands like While She Sleeps and You Me At Six to support, as they dial things up with two tracks from 2023, ‘Cherry Red Rage’ & ‘Don’t Pull Up’ to finish, and promise to meet the punters in the back at merch after Hot Milk.
Hot Milk
When Corporation’s lights go down for the headliner, any headliner, it always imbues that slight sense of star power, but Hot Milk really do have star power in their arsenal. This is doubled down on with the reception ‘90 Seconds To Midnight’, which fans have had a month to become familiar with and yet the reception is awe inspiring. Security are posted dead centre in the small pit at the front of Corp’s main room and it clear from the off that this is a rowdy one as they pick from their back catalogue with 2023’s ‘HORROR SHOW’ and 2021’s ‘I JUST WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I’M DEAD’. Han Mee has had a time of even making it for this show, as they notably missed the travel arrangement with the rest of the crew and had to arrive separately via train, hungover for good measure. The hangover becomes a running theme between songs, as they make a point of saying they are “hanging out their” arse before playing A Call To The Void’s ‘ZONED OUT’ and ‘OVER YOUR DEAD BODY’
If the journey was a mess, none of it shows as Hot Milk bust into brand new track ‘Swallow This’, by brand new, that means “the song had been out for 48 hours” new. So they hadn’t had long at all to think of the mildly raunchy intro for the live shows. It’s clear that interaction, energy and love is the order of the day for Hot Milk, as the crowd absolutely lap up ‘Wide Awake’, with the entire room having their arms aloft clapping, with Jim Shaw, Han and bassist Tom Paton standing in line at the lip of the stage. Not all of the show is totally fun and games though. As Han acknowledges, everyone needs a moment sometimes, saying “We’re going to cry a bit, everyone needs to”. During this track Jim also asks the crowd to hold up phone lights, which when combined with both vocalists leaving the crowd to sing the entire chorus of ‘Breathing Underwater’ acapela, and they more than fill the role. It’s proof that moments like that aren’t just reserved for the bigger shows and venues. It’s loud, defiant, and heartbreakingly sweet.
‘BLOODSTREAM’ bleeds into ‘Split Personality’ and i’s at this point that it becomes apparent that Corporation and maybe a 200 metre radius around Milton Street is just an over. Han comically remarks “I am very wet, is anyone else wet? This next song we need everyone from left to right to get as wet as possible”. Midway through the track ‘Bad Influence’ that follows, Han mounts the barrier to be up close and personal with the front row, splitting the crowd for a pit with a grin and a warning: “No one be a dick-ead, just mosh like you’re supposed to.” It’s a refreshing take as just saying “if anyone falls pick them up” has somewhat just become the said thing at shows. Everyone listens. Everyone goes wild. There were no Dickeads.
The band are very cheeky and offer to play an as yet unreleased song, provided everyone in the crowd acts like they’ve heard it a million times before. The new track is ‘Insubordinate England’, which is said to be an unreleased diss track aimed squarely at the state of the country just being a bit of a mess. It’s made light of by Han though, with Mee saying “I’m such a professional, they gave me a mic, who’s idea was that? It was a bad one”. It’s heavy and messy and completely earned. But our favourite part is that it was written down as “Ingerland” on the setlist. During the final track of the main set, ‘PARTY ON MY DEATHBED’, a brief tech issue forces Han and Jim to share a mic. It doesn’t slow the chaos. It amplifies it. As both Han and Jim egg the sides of the crowd against each other for more noise, with Mee shouting “I want to hear it in my bowels”.
Finally, ‘Glass Spiders’ closes the night as the encore. Far and away one of their most popular songs, it gives the crowd one last rush and chance to avoid the Sunday scaries. The venue does very little in the way of emptying after the set though, with many a Doc Martin shuffling to the back of the room to merch, where many of the crowd just hang as a community. Another thing that is sorely missed in your more commonly featured venues, and why Corp was the perfect place to kick off this leg of dates