Hottt Probs headline the next entry of a great new live concert series

Atwood Music Hall’s Locals Only emphasizes Madison’s musical talent.

Madison’s newest dedicated events venue has been hitting a lot of the right notes since opening its doors in June. With a standing room capacity of 700, Atwood Music Hall can cater to a number of needs. Given its size and Madison’s troubling tendency to downplay its own artists, it would not have been a shock to see the venue side-step local music. Instead, Atwood Music Hall has partnered with One Barrel Brewing to put local music front and center with its Locals Only series.

True to its name, the series has featured established local acts. In its first entry, the event doubled as a triumphant release party for Graham Hunt’s superlative new album Timeless World Forever. (An album that the songwriter explained mid-set was largely about Madison’s East Side.) Disq and Celebrity Sighting rounded out the bill with impassioned performances, giving the series a strong initial step.

Atwood Music Hall’s second entry of the One Barrel Brewing-presented Locals Only series will take place on August 2. Feisty punk quintet Hottt Probs will headline, with Baby Tyler Band and Bron Sage playing support. For Baby Tyler Band, it will be their last show until the fall. And for Bron Sage, it will be their first show since April 2024. A soft reintroduction for a potent, progressive-leaning rock band and a soft, mercifully temporary goodbye for a venomous punk project with hardcore leanings (Baby Tyler Band frontperson Tyler Fassnacht’s simply on vacation for the length of August, per an expired Instagram story).

While both of those bands are more than worth seeking out by virtue of their artistic merit, the central draw for the evening is local supergroup Hottt Probs, who have created a good deal of buzz through a series of scintillating live performances. An impressive feat for a band that has yet to officially release a track. Then again, not every band is lucky enough to boast a lineup that includes present and former members of Screamin’ Cyn Cyn & the Pons, Transformer Lootbag, Bes Monde, Venus In Furs, and the former owner of storied local clubs O’Cayz Corral and High Noon Saloon (who has logged time as the bassist in Tormentula, P.K. Ripper, and Bon Squad).

For those who have been fortunate enough to see the relatively recent group—or its members’ prior projects—in action, Hottt Probs’ appeal is plainly evident. Not only is everyone involved an accomplished musician and captivating performer (two things that seem to be mutually exclusive far too often), but the band’s early tunes have been vessels of catharsis. Defiant joy is at the heart of Hottt Probs’ performances, and their conviction comes across as deeply felt.

If their eventual, inevitable recorded output manages to be half as thrilling as their live show, we’re all in for a doozy. Until then, anyone in need of a dopamine hit or seeking an explosive example of blow-the-barn-doors-off dynamic musical interplay would be wise to make it out to Atwood Music Hall to aid in Locals Only’s aim of uplifting excellent local music.