Live Review: Holy Holy at Forum Melbourne 12/2/21
Supported by Queen P
It’s a very different atmosphere at The Forum tonight. The event is fully seated so there’s no dancefloor, but it seems everyone is just happy to be back together once more.
Queen P gets the place vibing early with her energetic set packed with quick whip raps and hip-hop beats. Born in Sudan, the outspoken singer is proud of her black heritage and she celebrates who she is with her song called ‘Queen With Colour.’ Queen P confidently rolls through each song and notches up the tempo with an explosive cover of Missy Elliot’s ‘Work It,’ complete with a duo of synchronised dancers twerking along by her side. She leaves us on a high note with a message of love, positivity and peace encouraging the crowd to rise up and bounce around in their seats.
Holy Holy make a huge first impression with their hit ‘Maybe You Know’ as they’re joined by a full live band along with some impressive stage lighting and the venue immediately comes alive with excitement. After a few songs they tick off the speaking part of their set list with some relevant banter about their time spent in recent lockdowns which included a lot of online gaming they tell us. “We admit, we’re a bit rusty, we haven’t played a live show in about a year,” says vocalist Timothy Carroll.
Nevertheless, they are so happy to be back on stage tonight playing two shows and another two the following night. They give it absolutely everything they’ve got for this first performance and even showcase some remarkable guitar solos they’ve been working on during the break.
A few special guests join them in the second half of the show including Ali Barter who lends vocals on an exceptional rock ‘n’ roll rendition of Lorde’s ‘Green Light’ and their own song ‘Teach Me About Dying.’ Fittingly Queen P joins them to perform their latest track ‘Port Rd’ and tonight marks the first time they’ve played it live together so it’s a special moment fore them and the audience. The song is a very different vibe to their previous material, taking a different direction as Queen P serves up some fierce rhymes in juxtaposition to Holy Holy’s melancholic vocals.
After a quick acoustic session everybody is itching to get out of their seats and up on their feet for a proper dance in their space. The audience chants them back to the stage along with their band for their most popular track ‘True Lovers’ and we’re swept away with their uplifting lyrics and euphoric guitar arrangements to make us feel the power of live music.
Words by Michael Prebeg
