LIVE REVIEW: Holy Moly & The Crackers, GGAllan Partridge @ Sage Gateshead (02.10.19)
Mark Grainger reviews the effervescent live show from two of the region's finest
By Mark Grainger on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019
Image: Sam Wall
It's been a busy year for Holy Moly & The Crackers, with festival slots up and down the land, not to mention a spot supporting Frank Turner and The Wildhearts at one of the summer's Wasteland gigs. They're not quite done yet, but there's something of a victory lap about their appearance at the Sage Gateshead; the music and cultural beacon of their adopted home.
Before that though, it falls to local treasures GGAllan Partridge, to warm up the crowd. Playing without their lead vocalist, and with guitarist/substitute singer Hannah D'Arcy suffering from a cold they don't so much warm up the crowd as scorch the faces off those in attendance. Whether GGAP's sound meshes with that of their hosts is up for debate, but they give it their abrasive all to an amusing mix of those who get it and friends and family of Holy Moly who are left bewildered.
Holy Moly & the Crackers may not be household names just yet, but it's hard to doubt that they've just about cracked the code. There's a clearly a devoted following (t-shirt sales are doing well). For a start they've got a bevy of tunes that walk a fine line between snarling raconteurship and big, affirming choruses, while the dynamic between members creates an atmosphere that absolutely crackles at all times.
Holy Moly & The Crackers have put the work in over the years and it shows. If they carry on doing what they do, as arguably nobody does better, then they're sure to bring their roving charm to bigger and bigger rooms at home and everywhere else.
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