HOLDING ABSENCE
at being onstage than She has a true passion for metal, her music and those fans who pack the venue, and when she constantly declares a love for us all, you know it isn’t vacuous nonsense.
There’s an abiding rapport between the vocalist and everyone in the crowd, not least because almost all the songs in her set are about being a metalhead. From opener these are simple, straightforward anthems that bring people together. The fans sing along, chant her name, pump their fists high, and in every sense are part of the event.
Tonight Doro spans her lengthy career to date. She delves back to her Warlock beginnings, and also takes things right up to date. The performance veers from the title track of Warlock’s ’84 debut album, to THE FLAPPER, BIRMINGHAM
With its upgraded-to-sold-out status right before doors, the already-intimate surroundings of The Flapper are packed to the low-hanging rafters by the time hoLdinG absenCe hit the stage. As the Cardiff five-piece take their places beneath smouldering red lights and Lucas Woodland’s emotive voice rises against waves of melodic post-hardcore for the thunder of opener Perish, the air seems to thicken. Next, a penetrating Your Love (Has Ruined My Life) is akin to witnessing a band in the thralls of a cathartic release, whilst Permanent’s swelling guitars and tender ambience showcases how these guys have mastered their dynamics with such elevating intent. Joyous sing-alongs accompany a setlist mostly centred around their self-titled debut. Huge pop-centric choruses course through Like A Shadow and Wilt; the latter switches between anthemic heft and moments of vulnerability as Lucas bares his soul to the rapt throng centimetres away from him – his searing cries building towards the song’s closing crescendo. The highlight, however, comes with Purge, which entrances the crowd into such revered silence at one point you can only hear cameras click alongside those delicate and ethereal piano keys. Tonight, Holding Absence boast the kind of emotional ambience capable of consuming hearts whole.