The Holidays, Gold Fields @Oxford Art Factory, Sydney(02/04/11)

Thu 7th Apr, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Sydney four-piece The Holidays have come a long way from their modest roots as disenchanted university students “making random noises and playing band covers” in their spare time. Since 2006 they have been making waves both locally and on the international music scene. On the back of their acclaimed 2010 long-player Post Paradise they recently picked up the AMP’s Red Bull Award for Best Debut Release and were nominated as finalists for the esteemed Australian Music Prize. Having just returned from a string of dates in the US, including a slot at SXSW, the band have returned home and are currently completing a national tour of Oz before jetting off to play in the UK.

This gig at Oxford Art Factory was well and truly sold-out and the excitement in the air was quite electric. Gold Fields did a great job at warming up the crowd with a delectable mix of tribal-esque percussion, searing bass riffs and euphoric vocals. If you haven’t heard their single Treehouse – it’s infectiously catchy and well worth checking out.

Before long, however, it was time for the headliners to take to the stage. As the curtain swept back the factory erupted in cheers as four figures shrouded in mist took their positions. The crowd swelled with anticipation and just when the tension seemed to reach breaking point the band provided release and launched into Heavy Feathers. Frontman Simon Jones appeared quite stressed out by some on-stage technical glitches with the sound but from my position these were not noticeable, and the grooving masses certainly didn’t seem to give a damn.

After traversing through Moonlight Hours it was time to really get the crowd going with the glistening number 6am and echoing, mellow bliss of 2 Days. By this stage I felt as though I was sitting under the shade of a palm tree on some isolated, exotic island sipping a cocktail and watching the sun set – and judging by the number of gently swaying bodies and wide grins so did most of the others around me. Pure aural bliss.

The quartet then intensified the mellow even more with a superb rendition of Broken Bones. The humming, lazy-paced synth backbone, tinkling percussion and soothing vocals drenched the audience with warmth. Similarly, the experimental congo-rock tune Congo went down extremely well before the band finished up the main set with Golden Sky. We were then treated to a superb rendition of Triangle, a lesser known B-side track from the band’s back catalogue as an encore.

In between songs and still apparently suffering technical difficulties Jones bantered light heartedly with the affectionate crowd “we’re pretty pro, you know”. He was clearly joking. However, there is definitely truth to the statement given the band’s recent outstanding successes. These guys have taken elements from countless musical genres, put them in a blender and fused them.