Page 48 - Black Velvet Rock Music Magazine Issue 92

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DEAF HAVANA / DINOSAUR PILE-UP / DEAD! – BIRMINGHAM O2 INSTITUTE, 21.02.17
It’s Deaf Havana’s first UK tour since 2013. Opening the night are two work the crowd fantastically. Mid-set, guitarist Sam Matlock even climbs
support acts that are featured on this year’s Download lineup: Dead! and up onto one of the large speakers to crank out his solo from a risky
Dinosaur Pile-Up. Dead! open the night with a bang. Their set is a drum- podium. To be honest, it’s no wonder that this band is deservedly on the
driven frenzy from a very interactive and high-energy band. Frontman Alex line-up for a handful of great rock festivals this summer as it’s easy to see
Mountford takes charge of the stage and conducts the audience. Many why within minutes!
people in the crowd prove themselves to be fans of this opening act as Second support act Dinosaur Pile-Up unfortunately appears to be the
they eagerly sing along to their tracks, which is great to see. The band car crash that their name insinuates of them… They are a grunge rock
are constantly dancing around, dressed in 90s style flannel shirts and trio consisting of Matt Bigland, Jim Cratchley and Michael Sheils on guitar,
oversized T-shirts, with long shaggy hair that kind of resembles the Han- bass and drums respectively. Songs like ‘11:11’ and ‘Nature Nurture’ show
son brothers from back in the day. ‘You’re So Cheap’ gets the crowd jump- the band to be a little Nirvana-inspired, but fail to leave as much of a mark
ing up and down with excitement. The band move around the stage and as the legendary Seattle band did.
‘All These Countless Nights’ is
the latest album from alternative
rock band, Deaf Havana. Although
the band is late to the stage at
9:30pm, the set opens with a child-
like rendition of the ‘Ring A Ring O’
Roses’ nursery rhyme with an eerie
twist. Blue lighting cascades down
on the band as they come out to
the eager crowd and dive straight
in with a track from their new
album, ‘Ashes, Ashes’, reminiscent
of the earlier implication of ‘Ring A
Ring O’ Roses’, which features the
lines ‘ashes in the water, ashes in
the sea’. The reference becomes
clear with their introductory song
choice. Their second song of the
night is new single ‘Trigger’, which
gets the crowd riled. Lead singer
James Veck-Gilodi is a great front-
man. He apologises to the crowd
for the cold (the air con fans are on
full pelt around the venue) because
‘his body gives up on him when it
gets too warm.’ ‘22’ has the crowd
shouting the lyrics back to the band
in unison, whilst the band play their
instruments like their lives are de-
pendent upon it. It’s noticeable that
the crowd are mainly male but
there’s a nice mix of age range that
is surprising to see and the band
are plenty grateful as they consis-
tently thank the fans throughout the
show for their support. ‘Thank you
for waiting around for three years
whilst we did nothing; we have
amazing fans!’
‘The Past Six Years’ is a great
song about growing up and grow-
ing apart from friends. Fans start
clapping along and the band only
encourage them to be louder. Dur-
ing the breakdown of the song the
crowd scream and cheer and sing
along like a choir for the final cho-
rus. James tells the crowd ‘let’s get
emotional’ and ‘St. Paul’s’ begins to
play. It’s another track from their
new album that proves to be
poignant and relatable lyric-driven
like so much of their music.
The band close the night on a
high with ‘Pensacola, 2013’, and
we leave the venue feeling very
glad that the band returned after
their time away – and definitely
hope they won’t be going away
again any time soon. Another tour
ASAP, please!
YYYY
Hollie Turner
James Veck-Gilodi (Deaf Havana) Photo
By Sophie Jones (LALI)

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