THE HOT ONE TWO Zanzibar Club, Liverpool

24^th November 2023

Words and photographs – Graeme Wright

REVIEW

Everyone knows I love The Hot One Two, so it’s no surprise I’d be rocking up on a Friday night in my home town to see a storming triple bill at the Zanzibar Club. Unfortunately, one of the three acts (Twister) had to cancel due to Illness within the band, but this meant that The Hot One Two would be extending their set and could ostensibly perform most of their storming new album, ‘Superbia’. We took along a healthy crew with us, but there were three big shows on tonight in Liverpool which impacted the numbers slightly. However, there were enough people in Zanzibar to make a big noise for both bands and as always The Hot One Two put on an amazing high-energy show that made new fans out of everyone that hadn’t already seen the band in the live arena.

Set opener ‘The Fray’ was both my single and video of the year and was a cracking start to the proceedings. Simon West has an amazing live-show voice, comfortably switching from out-and-out blues to the hardest of heavy rock vocals at the flick of a switch, making everything seem effortless. ‘’Rolling Stone’ is a proper high-energy bluesy Rock and Roll track and the boys nail it tonight, with flawless backing vocals perfectly supported by Nick Manners running around like a maniac throwing out lick after lick and really catching the eye this evening.

‘Demon Daze’ is another highlight that builds and builds and shows the band at their very best. The secret to this band is that not only are they all top-quality musicians with energy levels that are off the scale, but they also now have a set of really strong tunes (there isn’t a single filler track on Superbia) and you feel that both crowd and band sense that they have something extraordinary going on here. ‘God Forsaken Blues’ is a punch-the-air chant along classic and Kev Baker, as well as being a great guitarist is also still way out in front for ‘the best guitar faces of the year’ award. ‘Feeling Good’ is many people’s favourite from the new album and is a good-time eighties style anthem that has people singing and dancing at the front.

‘Is It Hot?’ is a thundering beast of a track and by the end of it you can see the sweat dripping off both band and crowd, while ‘Something Real’ slows things down a touch to give everyone a breather and it’s probably the most mature song yet from this band.

Nick Blackburn and Joe Chivers are a back line to die for and they are both on fire tonight. ‘You’ve Got It (I Want It) picks up the pace again and then it’s onto ‘Playing With Fire’, which sees the synchronised dancing attracting the attention of some of the ladies in the audience. The set closes out with ‘Tie Me Down’, which for me is a massive song from the new record. It’s a shame we didn’t hear ‘Bleed On Me’ tonight from the band E.P. as it’s a song I was obsessed with when I first heard it, but it was the right decision to go with the songs from the new album this evening. Certainly, a number of our group immediately raided the Merch stall for CDs and T-Shirts tonight, all of our first-time viewers being highly impressed this evening. There’s not a lot more I can say about this band. Great music, great people and one of the best live acts I’ve seen all year. Get out and see them when you can, you won’t regret it.

Band

Simon West – Vocals

Nick Manners – Lead Guitar

Nick Blackburn – Bass Guitar

Kev Baker – Rhythm Guitar

Joe Chivers – Drums

SETLIST

1. The Fray
2. Rolling Stone
3. Demon Daze
4. God Forsaken Blues
5. Feeling Good
6. Is It Hot?
7. Something Real
8. You’ve Got It (I Want It)
9. Playing With Fire
10. Tie Me Down