Gallery, ReviewDitch This MagazineFebruary 16, 2021gallery, live, melbourne, forum melbourne, Holy Holy, Queen P

Holy Holy + Queen P @ The Forum 11-02-21

Gallery, ReviewDitch This MagazineFebruary 16, 2021gallery, live, melbourne, forum melbourne, Holy Holy, Queen P

photos: Lucas Hackett @lucas_packett_photography // words: Jarith Hughes

Review

*“The euphoric essence of “just like old times” buzzing in the room as the songs cascade through the air..”*

The unsuspecting eve of the latest Victorian lockdown, I depart a busy Flinders St Station on foot in the direction of the Forum Theatre.

As I approach I set eyes on the growing line of people wrapping around the building and into the colourful Hosier Lane. My first attendance to a live music show in almost a year, I’m eager to bathe in the lights and sound.

I arrive at my seat, pen and pad in hand and await the opening act.

The stage is set with a drum kit and keyboard. The lights glow brighter. Thick, heavy bass and drums pump through the theatre. A young Queen P struts out onto the stage as the band builds into the first song. Fast, rhythmic lyrics duck and weave around the beats. Songs of black power and cultural pride flow, stoic with authority. “Hummingbird”, a song about honor and pride in Queen P’s upbringing, Sudanese heritage and community.

Next back up dancers grace the stage as the band gives Missy Elliot’s track “Work It” a facelift. The band both backing and raising hype, hold down tight and technical grooves while Queen P’s vocal phrasing resounds like the greats.

The juxtaposition isn't lost on me either. I admire the contrast of music genres, even cultural landscapes combining to provide a night of richer artistic expression.

Intermission, my friend hands me a whisky and we admire the building's dramatic interior.

Fog covers the stage and the lights dim again. People rush back to their seats as cinematic music swells and crescendos into the 4 tap of their first song “Maybe You Know”.

HOLY HOLY erupt in a wall of sound. Vibrant, fuzzed out guitar riffs meet crystal clear vocals. Layers of ambient delay and reverb move like soundscapes partnered with tight and clever drum beats and bass lines. A cheeky Ali Barter stands up the back of the stage as Holy Holy’s backing vocalist.

Bright lights wash over the stage as the band bangs out hit after hit from their hat-trick of successful albums.

At first I was nervous for them, the task of delivering a night of energy and ecstasy to a seated crowd seems like a daunting task for even the most fearless professionals. Only a song or two in I notice the audience begin to drift into the isles dancing and singing along. The euphoric essence of “just like old times” buzzing in the room as the songs cascade through the air.

The band exits the stage, leaving Oscar Dawson and Timothy Carroll dueling guitars for a ballad version of “Sentimental and Monday”. Rich warm light spotlights the two as they exercise delicate restraint.

The band returns and with them Queen P, to perform their new collaborative single “Port Rd” live for the first time. After the applause breaks, a voice rises from the back of the theatre screaming “EVERYONE STAND UP”.

Holy Holy brings the night across the finish line with their hit single “Two Lovers”. Everyone in the crowd rises to their feet, dancing on their chairs and singing together at the top of their lungs.