I was yet to see indie-rock legends Holy Holy perform live, so I was pretty excited to see them play in my favourite Brisbane venue The Triffid. Alongside Machine Age and The Money War, the lineup for the night was sure to be jam-packed with sweet guitars and sweet dudes.

Machine Age took to the stage early, and the audience was already bordering on half full. A two piece band, they combined synths and guitars with drums and a rich vocal timbre to create a sonically pleasing indie-rock aesthetic.

The Money War was up next, and they had plenty of energy to offer. More on the pop side than Machine Age or Holy Holy, the lighter hearted approach was a nice change to the heavier guitars we were hearing for the rest of the night. Being a two-piece band didn’t stop them from making plenty of noise, and latest single Right Kind Of Love was a set highlight that really got the crowd grooving.

Finally, Holy Holy were due to take the stage. The audience was quite varied – to my left were some baby boomers old enough to be my parents, to my right were some delinquent adolescents wearing Dune Rats shirts, and behind me a girl was whispering to her friend about how she was going to have guitarist Oscar’s babies. It’s nice to see bands that can really appeal to the whole family still – so many artists are becoming obsessed with fitting into the ‘right’ niche.

Their set was a whirlwind from start to finish – tracks like Amateurs, Willow Tree and If I Were You, showed the whole bands versatility, and Darwinism brought out a epic trumpet solo out of nowhere. They didn’t just play from their latest record though, with House Of Cards proving to be a bit of a tear jerker, and their LAV cover of Beyonce’s Hold Up sounding even better than it did on the radio. White strobes flashed as they played Elevator before saying goodbye – we knew it wasn’t over yet though; the chant of one more song rang through the venue with ear-splitting clarity. The band returned to play Sentimental On A Monday acoustically, with the full band joining them halfway though in a true display of Holy Holy zaniness. Send My Regards sent us on our way, feeling blessed by the true display of musicality we had just witnessed.

Olivia Shoesmith