Nights out on Cowley Road tend to include more things you’d rather forget than remember, but Holding Absence’s gig at the O2 Academy Oxford proved an exception. The post-hardcore four-piece, nominated for three awards in last year’s Heavy Music Awards, brought their distinctive soundscape of alternative rock and heavier musical elements to the city of spires for a sold-out gig. All good nights out begin with a ‘pres’, and before the main event of the evening, Holding Absence and a handful of fans made sure to stop off at local record store, Truck, for a live Q&A podcast with The Ragamuffins. It covered a range of discussions, from why this band constantly seems to be touring to favourite movie soundtracks. For anyone curious to give them a listen, this Q&A also provided what I would consider the perfect description of this band, with frontman Lucas Woodland acknowledging their position as either ‘the heavier band on a lighter line up or the lighter band on a heavier line up’.
That being said, you’d be forgiven for thinking Holding Absence were a much heavier band, had you only seen the two support acts, with Oxford’s own Lastelle, followed by Australian Void of Vision, both receiving the incredibly positive reactions of circle pits and seas of headbanging. Lastelle had successfully warmed up the crowd, before Void of Vision even had a chance, with the perfect blend of post-hardcore growls from the frontman, Adam Rigozzi, and the more melodic vocals of the drummer/vocalist Mike Hayden. Looking around the room, it’s clear that this hometown show gained Lastelle some local fans. If Lastelle had the crowd warmed up, Void of Vision turned the thermostat up even higher (in this cost of living crisis!). Opening with ‘OHNE SICHT’, they certainly created an entrance for themselves, with techno-ish beats followed by guttural vocals and a slow build up of suspenseful drums. This suspense did not go to waste, as it was followed by ‘Ghost in the Machine’ which gave the crowd everything fans of heavy music could ask for – a fast tempo, growls, screams, distortion, and lyrics bursting with self pity.
As the lights went down and the opening to ‘Monochrome’ began, you could feel the anticipation building for the soft ‘Tell me something I don’t know’ that fans of Holding Absence know well, but that feeling was soon superseded by the energy of the crowd mirroring Woodland’s high powered vocals, screaming the lyrics back to him. The setlist consisted of a well-put-together mix of old and new, with well-deserved attention devoted to both of the band’s albums, as well as their EPs. The high-powered, firmly established crowd favourites, such as ‘Afterlife’ and ‘Beyond Belief’ gave such energy to the charged-up audience, if you weren’t being dragged into a pit, you were watching your head for the foot of a crowdsurfer. If ‘Beyond Belief’ and ‘Birdcage’ didn’t already have you trying to fight off an existential crisis, the 2017 single ‘Penance’, and ‘Saint Cecilia’ were perfect for showcasing this band’s ability to capture and mould the emotions of their audience. This band will make you feel a heartbreak you aren’t going through.
Holding Absence is a band that gets more impressive with every performance of theirs you see. During their Q&A at Truck earlier that day, the band spoke of how the last time that they played the O2 in Oxford they had sold only 200 tickets, and how special it was for them to sell it out this time round. Having been at both of those gigs, you could really feel that this was a special tour – from the support acts to Holding Absence’s setlist to the sheer energy they brought. I’ve generally been sceptical of the O2 Oxford as a venue, and questioned whether it was an awkward combination of too big for an intimate, emotionally charged show, or too small for high-energy crowds, but Lucas Woodland really did have the crowd in the palm of his hand, and this night provided everything you could want from a gig.