Hot Mulligan In An Apple Orchard

By: Sarah Swetz

Midwest emo band Hot Mulligan formed in 2014 in Michigan and currently consists of members Tades Sanville (lead vocalist), Chris Freeman (guitar and vocals), Ryan Malicsi (lead guitar), Jonah Kramer (bass), and Brandon Blakeley (drums). They have been touring this year and just set out on a huge North American stretch of their tour this summer. They took the stage on June 5th with support from Joyce Manor, saturdays at your place, and Koyo at Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard in Lafayette, NY.

From Stony Brook, NY, Koyo brought high energy pop-punk to the orchard. They got the crowd energized and started the evening with a bang. Members Joey Chiaramonte (vocals), TJ Totolico (guitar), Harold Griffin (guitar, vocals), Stephen Spanos (bass), and Sal Argento (drums) had their set flowing like a well oiled fun loving machine. You could feel the excitement emanating from the band. It was a perfect start to the night.

saturdays at your place, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, brought out some midwest emo tracks for fans. Members Esden Stafne (bass, vocals), Gabe Wood (drums, vocals), and Mitch Gulish (guitar, backing vocals) make a fantastic trio that had the crowd singing along their whole set. They bring a certain level of chillness compared to what is expected from the headliners. That doesn’t mean however that they lacked energy, far from it. They made the orchard feel like they were performing for their closest friends out of a garage. Stafne even remarked that Upstate New York was close enough in vibes to Michigan to remind him of home. They kept right along with a difficult to describe high energy but still mellow vibe throughout their set as the sun was getting lower in the sky. Ending the set with their hit “tarrot cards” the energy was nonstop and the crowd kept security busy with crowd surfing.

Next up was a highly anticipated set from Joyce Manor. There were many fans walking around ready with their merch carrying the bands name. From California, Barry Johnson (lead vocals/guitar) Chase Knobbe (guitar), and Matt Ebert (bass/backing vocals) have been making music together since 2008 and were joined for touring by Neil Berthier (guitar/synthesizer) and Jared Shavelson (drums). Their set was fast paced, high energy, and fun! Its hard to find another word to describe the pure joy the band and crowd were feeling. Looking at the gallery of photos from the set, there are very few where the band isn’t smiling from ear to ear, loving what they do and seeing their fans have a great time. They played hits new and old, opening and closing the night with songs off of their most recent album I Used to Go to This Bar released earlier this year. Fans were singing along to every word and dancing along during golden hour with Joyce Manor and the orchard came alive.

As the sun was setting, the headliners for the evening, Hot Mulligan, took to the stage to set it ablaze with their high energy, lyrically complex songs. Vocals from Sanville and Freeman mix perfectly to deliver that emotional scream so distinct to their sound. Blakeley and Kramer create an amazing rhythm and funky backing to the set with their drums and bass, respectively. Malicsi hits hard on the guitar and mixes perfectly with Freeman to create a great melody. The night was filled with fans screaming along and taking to the air to surf their way to the front. People of all ages were there to enjoy and plenty of kids became what Sanville dubbed “sacrifices” as they surfed their way along the crowd. Emotions were high and the orchard was buzzing with energy as the band killed their set, playing old and new hits. In between songs, Sanville was full of self deprecating quips about the bands very unserious song names – such as “And A Big Load” and “Featuring Mark Hoppus” which does not in fact feature the bassist/vocalist from blink-182. They remarked how amazing it was to be on tour with their support bands, especially Joyce Manor who got an additional shout out as one of the bands inspirations. They did take some moments to get more serious about some political and social realities as well, as their are known to do, when they started singing their newest release “I Don’t Think It’s the Right Time for Emojis”. Overall the night was perfect, as was the set and was a great way to kick off the tour, this being only the second show of this leg as the band headed to Gov Ball the next day.