Stadium veterans already, the foursome had not expected to be looking out on such vast seas of faces at their gigs so soon.
Success gigging around Dunedin landed Hot Donnas the prize of playing the 2018 Orientation week toga party at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
While the attraction for concert goers there is as much the bed sheets as the music, guitarist Mitchell Sizemore says it is still a buzz being in front of that many smiling faces.
"Playing to big crowds" was the most rewarding part of their music careers so far, he said. Bandmates Jacob Sydney King, Gene Mace and George McLauchlan agree.
"We just love playing to anyone who wants to listen really."
However, the band will now wait until after their new album is released before playing more gigs, so they can focus on recording.
"We're going to go quiet for a bit," bass guitarist Mace confirms.
Hot Donnas released their debut recording in April last year, Greek Yoghurt.
They hope their sophomore album will showcase the band's growth and "slowly changing sound".
"Our sound used to be kind of funky but it is slowly changing more towards rock. An Arctic Monkeys type thing, but not the new Arctic Monkeys," explains King, the band's guitarist and vocalist.
The main difference between the new record and Greek Yoghurt was that they had put a lot more thought into it, he says. "This time we have really looked back on it and gone `how do we make this perfect?'."
The band concedes their first attempt at making a record showed their relative inexperience. The different influences each member brought to the music meant Greek Yoghurt was a mishmash of funk, pop, rock, and reggae genres.
"Making our first album, it was a big learning experience: we didn't really know what we were doing," Mace says.
"Over time, and with our new album, we have started really developing our sound."
When asked if the band was aiming to become Dunedin's next Six60, the musos claim to be dreaming bigger than that.
"Pink Floyd fame, if it's achievable. Who wouldn't want to do this for a living?" King says.
"It's every musician's dream," Sizemore chips in.
"We realise how hard it is, but we'll give it a bloody good whack."
Hot Donnas plan to release the first singles from their new album in August.
Jess Howard is an ODT intern.
