Ryan ChartrandTemperatures rose and rocking beats vibrated the jeans of onlookers as the crowd packed into Downtown Brewing Co. last Wednesday to watch the appropriately named Hot Hot Heat play.
“Fuck, it’s hot in here!” said Steve Bays, who plays vocals and keyboards. And it certainly was.
I Hate Kate, a rock band from Huntington Beach, Calif., started the night off with an energetic and rousing show.
Lead vocalist Justin Mauriello, formerly with Zebrahead, engaged the crowd with several songs including “Always Something” and “Inside Inside” from the album “Embrace the Curse.”
The energy was palpable when I Hate Kate cleared the stage to make way for the second opening act.
The Deadly Syndrome, from Los Angeles, played caveman drums and crunching spiraling guitars among onstage cardboard cutouts of ghosts.
Onlookers were noticeably less energetic for the second band, which ended its set with a sweet drum solo.
But all else was forgotten when Hot Hot Heat started its set.
“Thanks for reminding us what a real show is like,” Bays said, as fans sang, danced, and rocked out.
Hailing from Victoria, British Columbia, the band was 10 days into their current tour when they stopped in San Luis Obispo. They are on the road promoting the upcoming release of their new album and are playing a few dates with Snow Patrol.
Bassist Dustin Hawthorne said the Downtown Brew show made him feel like he was in a band again.
“It was a cool show. We are out with Snow Patrol right now, and to go from a lukewarm reaction to a small, rabid crowd like that is pretty awesome,” Hawthorne said.
Joining Bays and Hawthorne was Paul Hawley on the drums and Luke Paquin on the guitar.
Hot Hot Heat played such hits as “Middle of Nowhere” and “Dirty Mouth” as well as two songs released in 2007, “Let Me In” and “Give Up?”
Bays’ voice never faltered as he raised crowd energy levels by staying in almost constant motion on the stage and was more than willing to reach out and take hold of fans’ outstretched arms.
One over-eager woman quickly climbed onstage during the show and turned to beam with delight at the crowd before being escorted off by a bouncer.
The band’s first full-length album, “Make Up The Breakdown,” was released in 2002. Warner Bros. released “Elevator,” the band’s major label debut, in 2005.
Hot Hot Heat’s new album “Happiness Ltd.” is set to release on Sept. 11, and Hawthorne said the band is looking forward to playing new material on their tour.
“We’re very excited we can actually play all the songs since we can’t really play songs that people don’t know right now. This is our best effort to date, and we’re proud of it,” Hawthorne said.
He described the album “Elevator” as more of a “refined pop record” while “Happiness Ltd.” will be “more angry.”
“The new album is more brash; we’ve aimed to make it more rocking whereas ‘Elevator’ is more mid-tempo. We tried to take stuff from the first and second records and combine it with something new. We want to make the record less pop rock,” Hawthorne said.
Hot Hot Heat will spend the remainder of 2007 finishing its tour with Snow Patrol, heading to Europe for a press junket, and then beginning a world tour after the release of the new album.
And what is the band’s must-have while touring?
“A good treadmill is something we can’t live without. We’re all into exercising and stuff like that. And a cup of coffee,” Hawthorne said.