Photo Credit: David Scott
BENEATH the heart-throbbing headliners at Wickerman Festival lay a plethora of outstanding Scottish acts spread across three stages and Holy Esque were one of the most promising playing on Friday as the sun split the sky.
On the Summerisle Main Stage, the unmistakable tones of Holy Esque hit hard and loud. The drums of Ladybird Love pound out and the wall of sound created by the fuzzed-toned guitar, synths and Pat Hynes vocals are nothing short of fantastic.
Track Prism was next up, followed by the intro of Tear- haunting tones from the keys and guitar give this track fantastic power and caused a flow of people towards the Main Stage to check out this passionate act.
Next up is Reverence Fall- a relatively new song with a slow disco drum beat creating an early groove infusion. The drum is overlapped with the lead guitar line which is soaked in delay and underlined with distortion. You can’t help but move to the power of this track- a true standout in the set. It’s Reverence Fall that makes me think, how amazing Hynes vocal is, and how its bound to ache a little after a powerful set like this.
A personal favourite next, catchy track Rose begins. This track has it all and really comes to life on Wickerman’s field with the crowd losing themselves in the beat. The catchy lyrics roll off the tongue of Hynes and the drum beat drives the song and the audience into magical movement. This is the song that have put the band on the map, and from this performance its obvious why.
Silences is next, closely followed by St which is the penultimate track in this 40 minute set. It’s a massive song thanks to the overpowering drum beat and low-toned synth. As the song goes on, Hynes vocal and stage presence becomes more intense which causes you to be transfixed on his movement and performance.
Holy Esque end the set with At Hopes Ravine, which sees them close their Wickerman performance and their stint at UK festivals which has seen performances from the band at Glastonbury and The Great Escape. Wickerman, though, has been a high for both the band and the audience.
By Neal Mcharg
