When Holy Ghost! took the stage at Velvet Jones on Friday night, half of New Noise 2013’s two sort-of-main-ish events (the other being He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister at SOhO), there wasn’t much of a reaction from the crowd. For the most part, people continued to chat and order drinks and take selfies, save for a strong contingent of determined dancers near the front of the stage.
That dancing eventually spread backwards to the middle reaches of the venue, and by the time Holy Ghost! began their second or third song, just about every head was bobbing to their ‘80s-movie-soundtrack-inspired tunes.
Holy Ghost! did their best to infect the audience with a set that was full of “oh dang this is pretty cool” moments, strutting their technical musical prowess in front of large swaths of people who hadn’t heard of them before they arrived.
Something could probably be said about the intensely reserved behavior of all six members, but it’s hard to imagine how they could improve on this front given the nature of their music (or whether it even matters). Of the six players, two were milling about near the back of the stage, flicking switches, twisting nobs, and turning various lights on (and then off again), whilst the rest took turns playing drums and other stuff.
All in all, Holy Ghost! did a fine job of performing in front of an audience who almost assuredly left thinking “oh yeah, that band was pretty good.”