Live Review: Holy Holy, Baby Blue, Carla Geneve

Perth singer-songwriter Carla Geneve's beautiful voice and interesting lyrics shone over simple electric guitar at tonight’s sold-out show at The Gov – definitely an artist to keep an eye on.

Led by singer-songwriter Rhea Caldwell, Melbourne four-piece Baby Blue opened with I Like You and Big Picture. Their style had an indie-surf vibe, mixed with contemplative lyrics, which made it easy to enjoy. 

Opening with Elevator and That Message from the Paint highlighted Holy Holy guitarist Oscar Dawson’s superb style (and his extensive use of foot pedals and effects) and ensured everyone was pumped from the start.

Singer Tim Carroll then reminded us that the band have a new album, My Own Pool Of Light, and thanked us for listening to it. They launched into Maybe You Know, Faces and Flight, the first three, and possibly best, tracks from the record. Segueing "from the new to the old", they played Sentimental And Monday and History from debut album When The Storms Would Come.

Geneve was invited back on stage to help out with a cover of Lorde’s Green Light, as performed on triple j's Like A Version, which struck a chord with the audience. “The new ones are always a bit scary,” he commented after they knocked out Starting Line comfortably.

Darwinism and True Lovers rounded out the main set, again highlighting Dawson’s guitar prowess. A two-song encore included Frida and Teach Me About Dying, which saw Geneve return to the stage once again.

While Holy Holy put on a great gig, the set suffered at times as they tried to perfectly recreate the lush sounds from their albums. At times tonight the pre-recorded backing tracks were a little overwhelming and the volume of the band was pushed to the point of near-distortion to compensate. Carroll’s vocals were also a little drowned out. It was a very loud show and our ears were left ringing well into the night.