Project Description

Holy Holy + The Money War + Machine Age @ 170 Russell 30/06/17 (Live Review)

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Holy Holy

Holy Holy

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Up and coming underdogs, Holy Holy took out their biggest Melbourne headline show the other night, performing to an audience filled with passion and excitement, which was built up from two brilliant supporting acts.

Machine Age rocked the stage first with his guitar and beat pad, playing as a two piece with a drummer behind him. From the moment he started playing he had the crowds attention, as I looked behind me expecting to see a bunch of people standing around having a chat and a drink, but their eyes were glued to the stage. His only songs out at the moment Chivalry and Don’t Look, were played beautifully, throughout the set, and Machine Age delivered us an awesome taste of what’s to come; playing his songs filled with satisfying build ups and guitar riffs with ease and passion. His stage presence, was quite good, moving around and immersed in playing his guitar. When his set finished, Machine Age thanked Holy Holy for having him on their tour and left the stage having amped up the crowd for what was to come.

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Machine Age

Machine Age

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Up next was The Money War with a full band on stage with them, we got to hear the latest tracks released from a band I believe should definitely be on peoples radar. Having just recently dropping a six track EP, we heard the groovy rock tunes The Money War had to deliver, with tracks like Stars and Real Life  being in the set list early to really get the crowd moving. Though I found that The Money War, themselves’, stage energy was bit minimal, but was made up for by their awesome, dreadlocked lead guitarist who rocked every solo he got the chance to do, done with copious amounts of vigour. The Money War’s tracks aren’t all up beat but still, their slower tracks were performed with a rock vibe still that got you dancing more than any other way you would listen to their songs. They finished things off with possibly their most well known song, Recall, to bring the vibe of 170 Russell up even more and walked off with a satisfied and eager crowed.

Oscar Dawson walked out and picked up his guitar as the rest of the band followed him on stage, then Tim Carroll came out and Holy Holy was here. He grabbed the mic and kicked things off with Gilded Age, Carroll danced around the stage smashing out the first song of the set. We got to hear nearly the entire Paint record, singles Shadow and Willow Tree got the crowd moving though when That Message started playing, you could just hear and feel the crowd’s anticipation. While Carroll’s singing was something you couldn’t fault, this was easily a stand out moment for Dawson as the spotlight was literally on him as his guitar solo had the crowd going wild. Favourites Darwinism and True Lovers were amongst the most well known, and were flawlessly performed but stand out track I found was Amateurs, especially for Carroll absolutely nailing the vocals with such passion. The eight-string guitar got pulled out to do the still politically topical House of Cards, off their first release, we also got a few tracks from their first album, like History and fan-favourite You Can Not Call For Love Like a Dog. The track If I Were You was a massive stand out for the stunning drum solo at the latter end of the track that had an incredibly impressed crowd watching on in awe. The set finished with Elevator, a great way to finish off, having such an up beat and groovy song that the whole crowd could sing along too.

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The Money War

The Money War

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“One more song” we chanted, and as the lights flashed back on and the two members of Holy Holy came back out for an encore. A microphone was put in the middle of them, Carroll with his 8-string, the only thing plugged in was Dawson’s electric guitar, and they began a semi-unplugged version of Sentimental and Monday. Such a great intimate moment, Holy Holy and the crowd singing one of their most beautiful songs together, the band came back to finish off the outro. Carroll reminded the crowd of their latest Like A Version they had done that morning as they began their rendition of Beyonce’s Hol’ Up. Then they finished their show off with the final song on their Sophomore record, Send My Regards, going into a massive rock instrumental that had the crowd with their arms in the air as Holy Holy wound up a stunning awesome show.

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AMNPLIFY – DB

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