Band: Deaf Havana
Venue: The Cavern, Exeter
Date: 12th July 2011
Norfolk pop-rock boys Deaf Havana hit Exeter’s Cavern on the second day of their summer headline tour. The venue was sold out; a promising sign for a good night.
The dingy venue was fully packed out with people practically spilling out the doors. The unbelievably humid conditions made it a sticky sweat fest – not great. However the crowd absolutely loved them. People were pushing and shoving before the group even appeared on stage. So when they did arrive, it was mental. Girls were screaming, and it was a bit surreal for the typical grungy crowd that usually filled the venue.
As soon as vocalist James Veck-Gilodi opened his mouth, every single person was full-heartedly singing along. The overwhelming vibe from the crowd was amazing as there wasn’t a single person not giving it 110 percent.
The music itself was pretty much spot on. Since the departure of screamer Ryan Mellor, the music obviously sounds a little different. But the lads have definitely pulled it together and played a tight set.
The majority of the songs played received an awesome response from the crowd; however after a while they did start to blend together as one. There wasn’t a huge amount of differentiation between them, but for someone who was really into the band, it clearly wouldn’t be the case. The thing that let it down slightly was the lack of movement on stage. In all fairness, the Cavern doesn’t have the grandest of stages, but turning around once in a while isn’t mind blowing movement. The music definitely seemed to make up for it though, with everyone watching doing all the moving from the first song until the very end.
The most popular song of the night was definitely the massive hit ‘Friends like These‘. I could probably hear the audience more than the band themselves! People were screaming the famous lyrics out. It was crazy – an absolute crowd blower.
Apart from not being able to set one song apart from the other in parts of the set, the night was definitely made up by the huge crowd reaction. The fact that everyone loved it and had a blast really built up the fun gigging atmosphere. If you’re planning to see Deaf Havana in the future, make sure you learn all the lyrics! It’s sure to make the night a lot more fun.
Reviewer: Jasmine Sevette
Photographer: Jasmine Sevette
