Hot Topic Launches Hot Topic Live, With San Diego Rock Band Pierce the Veil First

Hot Topic is launching Hot Topic Live, a new music performance series filmed in a custom-built studio at the retailer's flagship store in Hollywood, California, Billboard reported on 21 October 2026. The first band to play it is Pierce the Veil, the rock group from San Diego.

Hot Topic is a clothing chain best known for band T-shirts. The new series builds on that link. The set uses rows of band tees as its backdrop, and each session is meant to give artists a space to play original music and share the stories behind the songs.

The series will feature established and emerging artists across genres. Each session is built around original songs and social media content. It includes three recurring segments: Hot Minute, a rapid-fire question-and-answer round, plus My First Band Tee and Behind the Tee Wall.

Pierce the Veil's performance will be posted on Hot Topic's YouTube channel, with extra clips rolling out across the brand's social media pages.

Frontman Vic Fuentes gave Billboard an exclusive statement about the band's first Hot Topic Live slot. He said the band has grown up with Hot Topic since the beginning. Hot Topic already sells Pierce the Veil merchandise on its website, including an Eyeball T-shirt and a Hot Topic exclusive shirt that celebrates what the band calls the biggest show of its career.

The band's 2023 album, The Jaws of Life, debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, the weekly US album chart that counts sales and streams. The band's official website lists upcoming dates, including a show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on 5 June 2027, and a 13 June 2027 date at Ippodromo SNAI San Siro in Milan, Italy.

For fans, the series puts a band's music on the same store floor as its shirts. Hot Topic Live will run with a mix of artists, so the first session is a starting point rather than a template. Further guests and release dates have yet to be announced.