After multiple delays and reschedules, Holy Holy's Hello My Beautiful World tour kicked off in North Queensland last weekend.
The tour rolled into Townsville's James Cook University on April Fool's Day, with hundreds of enthusiastic locals turning out to see the show.Opening act Winifred, AKA former Townsville resident Kate Martin, kicked off the night with an upbeat set of dreamy pop songs.
Martin showed off her dance moves and hook-centric vocals in the short solo set, running through an impressive array of tracks from her first EP (appropriately called 'EP1'), from debut 'Into The Night' to latest single 'On Yr Time'.
South Sudanese Australian rapper Queen P was a stranger to the Townsville crowd, but left locals wanting more by the end of her energetic set.
Queen P - image © Jade Kennedy
Admittedly struggling with the North Queensland heat, the 'Queen With Colour' singer brought heat of her own with a blistering set, including a cover of Missy Elliot's 'Work It' alongside her own originals.
The crowd was well and truly warmed up by the time main act Holy Holy hit the stage.
Bringing CLEWS sister Lily Richardson along as backup singer (the band will support some of the shows on the national tour), Holy Holy were in perfect post-pandemic condition.
Having spent several days in Brisbane rehearsing for the tour, the band – fronted by Oliver Dawson and Tim Carroll – enthralled the crowd for a solid 80 minutes.
Together, bassist Graham Ritchie and drummer Ryan Strathie formed a cohesive rhythm section; while Dawson and Carroll showed off the kind of stagecraft which only comes through years of practice.
Holy Holy - image © Jade Kennedy
The band re-introduced Queen P to perform their single 'Port Rd' as well as inviting Lily to the front to perform crowd favourite (and CLEWS collab) 'The Aftergone'.
Although this was Holy Holy's Hello My Beautiful World tour, there was no way they were leaving out 'Teach Me About Dying' (from the 'My Own Pool of Light' LP) or 'True Lovers' (off the 'Paint' record), which the crowd enthusiastically sang along to.
Not to be outdone by Queen P's cover song, the Like A Version veterans also performed Lorde's 'Green Light' to a very appreciative crowd.
Holy Holy - image © Jade Kennedy
The show left no doubt Holy Holy are a firm favourite with North Queensland fans, and it would be a shame to see another three years pass before their next visit.
More photos from the show.
