LIVE REVIEW: Deaf Havana @ O2 Institute, Birmingham
As the old adage says: history has a way of repeating itself. The last time anyone in Birmingham heard DEAF HAVANA play The World or Nothing was at the very same venue as tonight’s show, the O2 Institute Birmingham, nearly 13 years ago to the day.
It’s not the only fan favourite they’re dusting off the cobwebs with either as this entire tour sees them celebrating second album Fools and Worthless Liars in its entirety for its 15th anniversary. Whilst their next three albums – 2013’s Old Souls, 2017’s All These Countless Nights, and 2018’s Rituals – saw them crack the UK charts Top 10 and headline Brixton Academy, Fools and Worthless Liars is arguably the album that stays etched into the hearts and lungs of fans.
Like buying insurance through some pesky marketer’s infamous meerkats, tonight’s bill gives you two-for-one tickets as support act THE DANGEROUS SUMMER wind back the clocks to celebrate their debut, Reach For The Sun. Unlike DEAF HAVANA, who play their old songs with the frenetic energy of puppies on a playdate, THE DANGEROUS SUMMER’s set drags by like elderly dogs on their last legs.
Like DEAF HAVANA’s James Veck-Gilodi, frontman AJ Perdomo is the only member on stage who actually played these songs the first time round, and frankly, it doesn’t feel like he fancies them so much anymore. Standing as still as a statue for nearly 40 minutes, despite the jarringly chaotic energy of touring guitarist Marcus Leopard constantly threatening to crash into him, Perdomo dullfully doles out classics like Settle Down, Symmetry, and A Space To Grow. You know his enthusiasm for his earliest songs is at an all time low when he introduces their biggest song, The Permanent Rain, as their claim to fame thanks to being “in the trailer of a Jennifer Anniston movie in 2009”. By the time Never Feel Alone sees them off to a humbling small chorus of cheers from the few clearly here for this set, it’s a welcome relief they’re the support act and not the headliner.
Rating: 5/10
DEAF HAVANA on the other hand aren’t back in Birmingham to mess about. Sure, the O2 Institute isn’t as tightly packed as it was 13 years ago for them, but for those thronging to the front, the Veck-Gilodi brothers give every ounce of themselves.
The Past Six Years is the perfect opener: its stripped-back acoustics and self-deprecating lyrics let the crowd steal the spotlight as hundreds sing back its chorus like it’s hardwired in their brains. It makes the scuzzy guitars and driving drums of Youth In Retrospect that more electrifying as they launch straight into it, followed by the anthemic I Will Try, which is no less emotionally devastating tonight as it was 15 years ago. It’s one of many songs where James Veck-Gilodi happily gives over the vocals to the crowd, who never miss a single lyric sung at the top of their lungs.
In the few moments James and Matty stop to chat, it’s obvious they’re emotionally overwhelmed by the reaction to these old songs and not just pandering to the crowd. Often led by Matty, they wax lyrical about their love for Birmingham, why their Hunstanton hometown was so boring they became a band, and shout out sobriety and lineup changes. Funnily enough, it’s the latter that make such a difference tonight: DEAF HAVANA’s current touring band, bassist Kyle Deek and drummer James Porter, give these old songs a new lease of life whilst James himself sings and plays like a man reborn.
The setlist is straight-forward as they steamroll through Fools and Worthless Liars from front to back. Every time you think they’ve dropped the biggest sing-along of the night, like fan favourites Little White Lies or Anemophobia, they’re topped by deeper cuts like the fuzzed-up Filthy Rotten Scoundrels, the pulse-inducing Leeches, and Nelson’s County – even if James claims he still has no idea what that song is doing on the album, “I’ve never heard anyone mention that song ever”.
After the heartfelt Fifty-Four closes the book on Fools And Worthless Liars, DEAF HAVANA could easily have called it a night. Instead, they keep it old-school and dive straight into a thrilling loop of Everybody’s Dancing and I Want To Die, Fever, and 22. Bowing out with band favourite live staple Caro Padre, you’d be forgiven for heading out.
However, the Veck-Gilodi’s hold more aces up their sleeves. Returning for an encore is one thing, ripping straight into Friends Like These from their screamo-era album Meet Me Halfway, At Least is another. Like moths to a flame, the entire crowd is swallowed up in a sweaty moshpit, lyrics roaring back with the intensity of a lion. Not done yet, non-album favourite Smiles All Round keeps the pits spinning, before the disarmingly vulnerable Happiness caps off the night.
It’s funny, but by revisiting an album they made 15 years ago, DEAF HAVANA sound bigger and better than ever.
Rating: 9/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Birmingham from Serena Hill Photography here:
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