LIVE REVIEW - Holy Holy say goodbye at their 'Hiatus' tour

Meeting for the third last time on stage under their name, Holy Holy have undoubtedly made a real name for themselves. After the release of incredibly iconic singles ‘True Lovers’ and ‘Teach Me About Dying’, a career well-lived now sees the departure from the Holy Holy brand. They find themselves on stage at Miami Marketta on this 5th of June where I now find myself too. Just a few moments ago, I walked into a small meet-and-greet for their higher-paying patrons who want a chance to say hello and, more regrettably, goodbye. The Pixies’ ‘Here Comes Your Man' plays over the small bar’s PA with a jovial tone but there's a heavy air of mourning within the venue and a longing for things to continue beyond these few short nights.

“Out with the old and in with the new” was the theme for the night as the city was introduced to Rowena Wise in opening for Holy Holy’s final few shows. The three-piece came out to start with two extremely soulful starters to ease the crowd into a soft night. For the intro to the third song, the lead singer spoke about sitting away from her partner she'd just left and taking a flight together to Europe that had already been booked.

It was ‘26 Hours’ with its careful three-part harmonies and softly driven guitar, enough to maintain its grit and serve the grief that comes after anger and before sadness, but not too much to lose me from my sorrowful serenade. Another tune moved the crowd next with the same themes, with a lower sixth harmony that perfectly illustrates the feeling of being separate while together. ‘Gone’ celebrated those same emotions but a quick gratitude of life as we know it working its wonders and allowing us to exist as we are in the time and place where we find ourselves… you get it. ‘We Are Nothing’ was designed as those same feelings, almost feeling like a small hint to the ‘True Lovers’ chorus. Those strong harmonies peeked through the curtain once more before coming to a close with a hearty guitar solo and hook.

‘Elevator’, ‘That Message’ and ‘Stand Where I’m Standing’ came by before anyone knew it as guitars plugged into an array of pedals and effects put out the most meaningful of riffs to introduce the Gold Coast to Holy Holy for the last time. Tracks enhancing every vocal melody and reverberated hit come penultimate to our defining reason of being here: our celebration of the band’s lifetime at its wake. Mourning is usually done in silence but not this time as the crowd held steadfast on their feet to make their enthusiasm known to the artists on stage. 

‘Believe Anything’ shows its face and the lights behind are utterly hypnotic. The crowd and their chants of the hook left absolutely no one without a note in their vocal cords. 

Guitarist Oscar Dawson talks about his gratefulness for being able to play music for the last time with the band on their Hiatus tour, joking that they should threaten to break up more to sell tickets. Finally, with a few members of the crowd asking for a particular song, he teased them - “we'll play it on Saturday” - alluding to their final show for the tour at The Fortitude Music Hall.

‘Love You Still’ and its builds began the wells in my eyes, expanding with its climax to bring an intimate feeling to the whole show. Talking of ‘If I Were You’, lead singer Timothy Carroll was pleased to shoutout drummer Ryan Strathie who was the passion of the piece, mentioning that you can use all the equipment you want to record a beautiful song but what it really takes is someone whose only care is in doing it right. 

It’s the tom- and stick-filled beat. 
It's the intensity building through the chord changes. 

His vocals and support from the backup singers creating cohesion across the frequency spectrum… all colluding to a mid-score drum solo. James Cameron himself couldn't have composed or planned better for the score of ‘Avatar’, nor John Bonham on any 30-minute long live Led Zepplin performance with the cascading guitars and dramatic beat set before this sold-out crowd. 

Timothy’s vocals on ‘History’ with the various ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ confirmed the anthemic conviction that we needed. Evermore so, it changed the mood entirely for me: away from sorrow and distress, and instead flowing to acceptance as though this night would take me through the five stages of grief. That said, any grief stage complemented with a guitar solo makes everything suddenly okay to me.

The first four songs from the third album ‘My Own Pool Of Light’ were queued next, known in the band as the ‘four horses of the apocalypse’ as they started with ‘Maybe You Know’. This one has been present on my playlist for the past two years so the bittersweet feeling of not knowing how good you have it until it's gone is in overdrive. In the smoothest transition possible, ‘Faces’ is the next to come. Awash in pulsing shades of red and purple, each song blended into each other with the melodic chants and bouncy bass line of Flight to the swift arpeggiated solo of ‘Sandra’. It's through every fading piece that Miami Marketta’s 800 audience members became 800 slaves to the sound. 

Snapping the audience from their moment, Oscar introduced a guest singer for ‘Messed Up’, the featuring artist on the studio version, Thatboykwame who brought the energy and urged the crowd to sing his parts. The response couldn't be more enthusiastic as the driving rhythm and red lighting culminated to a perfect storm of adoration. The backup singers return and are revealed to be CLEWS, the featuring artists of ‘The Aftergone’. If you could guess which song came next, you'd probably be surprised to hear it not be ‘The Aftergone’. 

Nevertheless, ‘The Aftergone’ and its dulcet tones were given right back by the hands in the air from the pure energy put out with a peak-Veronicas-esque performance from the sisters. The theme for tonight was ‘legacy’ as the band explored their own in the form of what they'd achieved across the lifetime of the Holy Holy name, surprising the slaves once more with their ‘Like A Version' performance of Lorde’s ‘Green Light'. Only one colour was on anyone's mind and everyone's corneas couldn’t just be reminded by the lighting maestro at the desk.

That longing for an extension on Holy Holy’s career came with the chants of ‘Ready’:

“I just wanna stay, wanna stay all night,
I just wanna feel, wanna feel alright”

…and the grief stages began to repeat themselves. I got my amnesty in a lengthy guitar solo with the filthiest of drives and hottest of melodies. Finally, “a song about dying, but also about living.” There's a testament to the life-cycle and everyone in the room could agree as Timothy taught the crowd about dying in their fittingly final scheduled song. 

A walk off the stage and fake out for the crowd found ‘Frida’ as their first encore for the night. The reverb of the room around us didn't match that of the vocals or the tracks but the space within the songs lent itself to a beautiful contradiction, poetic in all possible senses. ‘Sentimental and Monday' felt like a notable addition to the set and Timothy and Oscar seemed to feel the same. The bass line that soundtracked the times I needed answers after high school life was the catalyst to knowing that tonight wasn't just about the life cycle of the band but also of my own as I reminisced through the entire first chorus. The many songs from Holy Holy’s discography that deal with themes of loss and, dare I say it once more, grief find me embarking on a similar train of thought but that's a lot more discussion for my therapist to handle and not a live music review. 

The third of a promised four-song encore came and went, tributing the band and its endeavours in a swirly haze of one final guitar solo. I'm not trying to say that it was better than any David Gilmour solo I've seen live but, given that the total number of David Gilmour solos I've seen live is zero… yeah, this absolutely rocked.

Thanking the crowd, Timothy promised us one final song and if it wasn't going to be ‘True Lovers', myself and 800 others would've rioted that instant. A glowing and faithful reproduction down to the note in that all-familiar guitar solo. In what appeared to be grand celebrations across the stage from every featuring artist that night alongside tour staff, the band conclusively said goodbye.

Now, the relocation of band members across the globe would technically make them “in a different time and a different place” but we were all too glad to know what could've been and it happened tonight for the third last time atop the Miami Marketta Studio 56 stage.

The gallery for the show is available here.