HOLDING ABSENCE: BRISBANE CONCERT REVIEW
- Aug 16
- 6 min read
Cardiff, Wales, Post-Hardcore band Holding Absence kicked off their Australian Tour on August 14th at the Princess Theatre with supports Kingdom of Giants (from Sacramento, USA) and Stepson (of Brisbane, Queensland), and we were lucky enough to be there. I do have to add the
caveat that I was unable to stay for the full Holding Absence set, due to a family emergency, however, I will report everything I experienced up to that point. The night began with a line looping around the side of the building and an excited chatter from the patrons as I walked past. With energies already high I made my way into the Princess Theatre for the first time, past the towering staircase and into the floor area. Having never been to the venue I wasn't sure what to expect and to my great surprised I was met with a tall curved ceiling and theatrical fake lit windows on the walls, giving the impression of an expansive old manor house. The tone was set and I watched as the crowd began to pile in for the beginning of Stepson's performance.
I have previously seen Stepson perform at the Ocean Sleeper Metal
Christmas (you can read the review here and see the photo gallery here) so I knew roughly what was awaiting me when the house lights went down. Stepson create an environment like a Ring Master of a circus, bouncing the focus between band members throughout the set, pulling focus where desired; including vocalist Brock stepping towards the back of the stage at specific times where his mic stand was permanently placed to allow the focus to fall on his voice as it flowed off the stage in waves. Stepson threw the crowd for a loop with the
opening statement of "We're Stepson, let's get heavy" before jumping into Eraser, Venom and This Is How It Feels. "We have been trickle feeding some music over the last few years. This is our first time playing this one live. It's a bit of a slower one for you." Brock said before the stage debut of Parting Ways. "Alright you mother fuckers, lets get it going tonight, lets get those hands moving." The crowd filling up quickly as the show progressed, going wild with the ever favourite cover of Faint by Linkin Park; the crowd jumping around so heavily I could feel the floor moving under foot, as the guitarist twirled
around the stage, causing a general ruckus. "Do you cunts know what a wall of death is? When this shit kicks in so do you." Brock said as the concert goes pushed backwards, clearing half of the floor. Throughout the set there seemed to be a few very vocal Stepson fans, calling out to specific members on the stage as they put on their high energy performance. Overall Stepson drew in the crowd who complimented their performance with accompanying swaying, jumping, circle pitting and lighted hearted rowdiness. "Yeah, that was tough," commented one patron within ear shot of me during a brief pause, summing up the performance perfectly in four words.
Next up for the night we had Kingdom of Giants (referred to from here out as KoG) take to the stage. KoG are one of those bands that have their
routine down to a science. As a show takes place I will flip between watching individuals and the band as a whole to see how they function within their unit; and as I watched KoG I was blown away by the professionalism and near hive-mind level of practised movements. Each member moved like water within their designated zone as Drummer Truman hit the drum kit with expert precision. "Brisbane let us see a fucking mosh pit" shouted Vocalist Dana to the rapidly filling floor area. Throughout the set the crowd was very receptive with
everything from walls of death, hectic push pits, dancing, clapping, rhythmic swaying and a flash light mob bright enough to light the room as bright as day time. "You know what the fuck to do. I don't have to tell you" Dana said as he attacked the microphone like a man possessed, throwing himself forward towards the crowd as he pushed the energy of his performance onto them. "Did you wear your dancing shoes tonight?" Overall KoG's energy remained high as they threw themselves into Asphalt, Wayfinder, Smoke and Burner amongst others.
Dana used his minimal time to speak to dictate the crowds movement, "Don't let me down Brisbane," "Make some noise Brisbane," "You guys got circle pits? Spin that shit, I didn't say stop. Spin that shit," "Let's get a wall of death. Bigger. Side to fucking side. Front to back." I seemed to be standing in the correct spot to catch "cute crowd moments" that night as a watched a couple waltz during the dance pit portion of the performance, with contagious smiles on their faces. "Take a knee. All you able bodied mother fuckers get on the
ground. Time to see who is too cool or just has bad knees." As the crowd kept to their feet as one (with about 90% getting to the ground) I could feel the floor shake once more. The final thing I wish to mention about Kingdom of Giants performance is this. Dana took his time to make a short speech about the state of the world and how live music is more important than ever, with the band overwhelmed and thankful that fans were "Spending your hard earned money just to see us" and "Otherwise we are just 5 dudes on stage." I could not agree with
the sentiment more that we need Music and even through hard times to invest in it. Music saves lives.
In true Australian style, during the interim, I was serenaded with a crowd sing-a-long to Sweet Caroline as patrons crammed into any available space. I was thankful for my earbuds as the house lights dropped for the final time and the crowd erupted in cheers and whooping. I have heard it said that a Holding Absence show is like a religious experience and I immediately understand why. Holding Absence holds the energy in the room in the same manner as Parkway Drive, Smash Into Pieces, The Used and Imminence. I mean this in the most respectful way possible when I say this, the air in the room turned cult-like, with several people immediately jumping onto shoulders, their hands raise to the sky and out
to the band as a united crowd sang at the top of their lungs, hands swaying the rhythm as if in prayer. "We're a band called Holding Absence from Wales in the United Kingdom. We are so grateful to be here in Brisbane on this stage tonight. We truly, truly, cannot believe how many of you have turned up tonight. Make some noise for yourself before we carry on. Thank you so much. We are so excited to play a Holding Absence Headline show for Australia finally. Before we get the energy up for this next song I'd just like to say the first time we ever stepped foot on this Country was in this city so it will always be a special place for us. Thank you. This is a song called A Crooked Melody. Let's sing together." While I was unable to witness the full show, I did manage to see A Crooked Melody, Whisper of a Dream and Curse Me with A Kiss. Holding Absence had a clear sound
that commanded your ear and an energy that pulled your focus entirely to them, something soft and welcoming like the smell of cookies in an oven. During my time at the show, Holding Absence moved around the stage consistently, utilizing the full space with comfortable ease; Vocalist Lucas throwing his arms around and jumping in the air, while encouraging the crowd to jump, sway and clap along, ending each song to ruckus applause.
Holding Absence is out on tour until August 20th with tickets available at the link below:
All photos by Sam Herbert Media.
You can view the full Photo Gallery at the link.
You can find Holding Absence on: Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and X
For Fans Of: Caskets, Dayseeker, The Plot In You and Thousand Below
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