Dust down your dancing shoes.
Supporting New Young Pony Club on a Saturday night may indicate the need for a band to have some dancing shoes and its with some relief that Holy Hail lived up to the expectations placed on them by this role. Hailing from New York, their set meshed well with the Nu-Ravers headlining slot and combined to make for an enjoyable night out.
Lead singer Cat Hartwell was absolutely captivating and had the small watching crowd in the palm of her hand. Equally adept at rapping as she was with singing and always managing to fit a dance in, the focal point of the band seemed to be enjoying herself throughout the evening and this managed to transfer itself across to the crowd. When the front of the stage starts off empty but has picked up in numbers by the end of the support bands set its usually down to a good performance and Holy Hail turned in a fine effort.
However, lets not let people think that Holy Hail are a one-man (or woman) act as there was a lot to marvel at from the other members as well. Bass player Michally never stopped moving, her bass lines prowling the stage almost as much as she did and providing the driving energy for most of the tracks. Most of the top-end in the songs came from the keyboard of Kevin, who also traded vocals with Cat on many of the numbers. The urgency shared between the two as they snipe and cut with their vocals was an extra dynamic to a set that was already excelling beyond expectations.
As an introduction to the band, there were a lot of different styles going on although the set was consistently upbeat and always had an element to make the crowd move. The songs were concise and stand up well in comparison to a lot of the bands making waves at the moment. When people catch up with the band and their music, there's going to be a lot more fuss made about this act.