Deaf Havana are back with what is their fourth album, although it’s their third since their musical direction changed significantly. ‘All These Countless Nights’ continues the growth of this fine band and tonight they are at the UEA LCR in Norwich. This is as close to a hometown show as this band can get given they formed about 40 miles away in King’s Lynn, and there is a celebratory atmosphere tonight.
Apparently to get on the bill tonight your band name had to begin with a D. Accompanying Deaf Havana and Dinosaur Pile-Up are our opening act Dead. The young up-starts Dead are a band that you seem to either love or hate. This is partly due to their perceived push from the mainstream rock press. Yes they get a lot of coverage but on tonight’s evidence I’m inclined to say they deserve it. They do a decent job of winning over the audience and by the end of their set they have most of the crowd bouncing along.
Next up are a band with much more experience. Dinosaur Pile-Up have been on the circuit for almost ten years now and have garnered a decent fan base. They deliver a solid set that builds to an intense finish which surely adds to that fan base. Their performance shows the benefits of time over a band like Dead, it’s just a shame they don’t receive the same level of coverage.
Our headliners tonight are another band who just don’t seem to get the credit they deserve. Since reinventing themselves around 2010, Deaf Havana have released three brilliant albums including new effort ‘All These Countless Nights’. It has been almost four years since the bands last album ‘Old Souls’, and in that time the band have lost a member. They haven’t missed a step though and begin the night with two new tracks ‘Ashes, Ashes’ and ‘Trigger’.
The reception of the new tracks must fill the band with pride but the reaction that greets ‘I’m A Bore, Mostly’ and ‘Leeches’ next sets the scene for the rest of the evening. That scene is of a band on top form and a venue packed with passionate fans who want to sing at the top of their lungs. From here onwards the band continue to mix new and old alike as ‘L.O.V.E.’ and ‘22’ lead us to ‘Fever’, ‘Happiness’ and fan favourite ‘The Past Six Years’.
Switching from a six to a five-piece hasn’t affected the bands presence on stage and they have the audience in the palm of their hands as they push on through ‘Tuesday People’, ‘St. Paul’s’ and ‘Cassiopeia’. Three more favourites bring the main set to a close as fans and band sing out ‘Mildred’, ‘Anemophobia’ and ‘Hunstanton Pier’.
Of course the evening is far from over and soon enough the band are back onstage for the obligatory encore. ‘Old Souls’ anthem ‘Boston Square’ picks right back up where the band left off, before recent single ‘Sing’ has the crowd doing just that. ‘Pensacola, 2013’ brings a thoroughly enjoyable evening to a close. Hopefully ‘All These Countless Nights’ is the album that finally delivers Deaf Havana the success that they so clearly deserve.
FUTURE GIGS
sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.