Looking like impeccably-dressed bushrangers, Holy Holy started off the night with a solid show of cutting, dramatic and occasionally dark folk rock. Opening tune Wanderer was pretty typical of their performance: a slow building song with some excellent guitar fills from Oscar Dawson. This unreleased song was one of many that will hopefully find themselves on Holy Holy’s debut album. Judging by the amount of impressive new material in this set, their album will be one to look out for.
The standout song was Impossible Like You, which sounds similar to other Brisbane folk rockers Art Of Sleeping, but more refined. Recently released single History is one of their best songs to date. Pretty much the only disappointment of their set was that standout track House of Cards – the best song of the year in this writer’s opinion – was ruined by technical difficulties.
After a huge roar as Boy & Bear entered the stage, lead singer Dave Hosking‘s first vocals pierced through the crowd and resonated long after they were sung: “Get up and dance girl/I’m in a rock’n’roll band.” Ironically, in our litigious society, standing is prohibited in places like the Palais Theatre, because… well, standing is dangerous. Thankfully, when Boy & Bear manage to perform such an excellent show, who really cares? Boy & Bear were simply wonderful: they played great song after great song, and managed to be constantly tight, jovial and just have an infectiously good time.
Boy & Bear are a band without a weak link. All members are excellent musicians, and after playing with each other for over five years are very well drilled. Frontman Dave Hosking manages to impress the most: his vocals simply make the band. His style is original, versatile, and reminiscent of Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold and Powderfinger’s Bernard Fanning. Indeed, Boy & Bear have managed to fill the hefty shoes Powderfinger left following their 2010 break-up: simply looking at the vast array of ages in the audience, Boy & Bear have the same widespread appeal as Powderfinger.
This is more than understandable. Boy & Bear have made a stellar reputation from playing accessible folk-rock with country and blues influences. Their adaption of the classic, Fall at Your Feet demonstrates this skill: it is simply beautiful. The crowd was more than happy that the band brought this cover back from “retirement”.
To pick a favourite song for the night is quite a challenge, but it would have to be their modern classic Feeding Line. There were so many others that were excellent, but didn’t manage to stand out simply due to the consistently high standard. I could go through all of these songs individually, but would end up running out of synonyms for “great,” so I’ll just list them all here: Lordy May, Milk and Sticks, Three Headed Woman, Harlequiem Dream, My Only One, Part Time Believer, Southern Sun. They were all sublime.
Refusing to do an encore, because “shit can get awkward,” Boy & Bear finished with Big Man, which featured the whole band harmonising vocally. Deservingly, this final song was met with a standing ovation.
BY JOSH THORBURN
Photo by Charles Newbury
Loved: The collective under-the-breath singing to I Got a Woman in the intermission.
Hated: Not being brave enough to dance.
Drank: Water.
