By the time Hot Mulligan took the stage on the Elsewhere rooftop last Wednesday, the Brooklyn skyline had already surrendered to a dusky purple. Above the hush of the city, a different kind of storm gathered – one not forecasted by weather apps, but by memory, melody, and the emotional clarity only a Hot Mulligan set can summon.

There’s something poetic about seeing a band forged in house shows now headlining rooftops and selling out tickets in milliseconds – still raw, still wild, but refined in the way time sharpens intention. They didn’t just perform. They confessed, turning heartbreak into group therapy, riffs into rallying cries, and pain into the kind of beauty you feel in your ribs.

Opening with the anthemic “Drink Milk and Run,” the band wasted no time in tearing down any barricade between stage and soul. Tades Sanville paced the platform like a preacher of pop-punk gospel, his voice urgent and frayed at the edges, as if every lyric might be the last he ever gets to sing. Guitars ricocheted through the air, tight and bristling, while the rooftop pulsed with a crowd that knew every word, every scream, every silence. And when they launched into “A Big Load,” a track released only a few hours prior, fans were quick to scream along as if it was a defining single of their adolescence – one diehard even printed the lyrics on a piece of paper and others crowded around to ensure they had every word right.

But this wasn’t nostalgia. It was evolution. With a new album on the horizon – A Sound A Body Makes When It’s Still is slated for release later this summer – Hot Mulligan offered glimpses into what’s next. The new songs landed not as detours, but declarations: more grown, more precise, and yet still as feral and full of feeling as the tracks that first made them kings of the emo kids. If Pilot was their spark, this next record feels like their wildfire.

Before Hot Mulligan turned the Brooklyn venue into a rooftop reverie, Wakelee opened the night with a set that felt like a local secret finally getting its due. I unfortunately missed most of their set due to complications with the venue staff, but I stumbled in during their last three songs and immediately became engrossed. Their DIY spirit echoed in every shout and strum, and by the time their last chorus hit, the early arrivals were already sold.

Oso Oso followed with a dreamy, gold-hour performance, their melodies unfurling like late-summer haze. It was a perfect prelude – soft edges, warm chords – that left just enough room for the night to explode once Hot Mulligan took over.

As the final notes rang out beneath string lights and smog, Tades grinned and thanked the crowd for their unwavering support throughout the years, and his gratitude protruded the heart. Hot Mulligan isn’t just surviving the scene – they’re redefining it, record by record, rooftop by rooftop.

Their next era is coming. But for one night, it was already here – loud, honest, and heartbreakingly alive in Brooklyn.

Hot Mulligan’s new album is set to release later this summer via Wax Bodega.