Whilst The Dangerous Summer were definitely on the more passive side of rock music, bordering indie and emo, you can’t ignore the historic sentiment of having the same band supporting Deaf Havana on the initial Fools and Worthless Liars tour 15 years ago. Playing one of their earlier albums, Reach For The Sun, in full, some of the crowd knew every word, others bobbed along, and you got the feeling that despite the melancholy of their music, their own headline show would go down a treat. Especially with fan favourites like ‘Where I Want To Be’ and ‘The Permanent Rain’, where the band really came to life.
Frontman AJ Perdomo took a sip of water, throwing guitarist Marcus Leopard, under the bus to chat to the crowd resulted in a mid-show Trump impression, breaking the tension as the room loosened up for the last few tracks. With closer ‘Never Feel Alone’ bringing a whole new level of feeling as even those who didn’t know the words ended up singing along. A perfect build-up to our headliners.
Now you’d think opening a rock set with an acoustic guitar would be a risky business, but as “these days my friends aren’t who they used to be” pours out of the PA system, all that can be heard is the crowd. There seemed to be something cosmic happening at Shepherd’s Bush that evening as a whole venue became one. More than just sing-alongs and arms raised, like auras merging, and it was only the first song!
The acoustic guitar was put to the side for a moment, and the rest of the 15-year-old album poured out of the band with ease. Deaf Havana’s line-up might have changed a bit over the years, but you would never have guessed it looking up at the stage, each one of them in their element. ‘Little White Lies’ and ‘I’m a Bore, Mostly’ seemed to pass too quickly, wanting to savour each moment but live in it too was a balancing act for this whole set.
There’s something special about revisiting an album of life lessons that you first heard when you were too young to learn them, to hearing them live now, every trial and tribulation experienced, and the person standing next to you is shouting every word right along with you. It’s euphoric. Especially when you know there’s more Deaf Havana to come.
Fans had feared the end of this band for some time, and those fears were almost brought to light as frontman James Veck-Gilodi shared his initial plan to step back after this tour. But in a complete twist of fate, he announced they’d signed a new record deal! Which, as you can imagine, was met with a deafening cheer.
With arguably some of the best tracks on the album still to come, lyrics like “we’ll sing till we can’t speak” rang true, especially as ‘Nelson’s County’ and ‘Fifty Four’ wrapped up the album. This tour seemed like a long time coming, but there was much time to process, with the vibe taking it up a notch with ‘Everybody’s Dancing and I Want To Die’, it may as well have been Christmas.
The set ended with ‘Caro Padre’, and no one budged except to redirect their gaze to the balcony where Sean Smith from The Blackout had been watching the show. Fans were confused when he didn’t move an inch, expecting a repeat of their Slamdunk collaboration. Red lights pulsed on stage. A low-end rumble introduced ‘Friends Like These’, and the iconic scream of Ryan Mellor was once again back where it belonged. To say fans went mental would have been an understatement. This was a bucket-list item that many thought they’d never get to experience after his 2010 departure. A pit the size of the floor opened up and didn’t stop for ‘Smiles All Round’. With a slightly jarring but welcome tone shift, we were given the appropriately named ‘Happiness’, ending their tour with goosebumps and unfiltered joy.
Deaf Havana aren’t new to the scene by any means, and neither are their fans. Songs about growing older but not up start to resonate more now than they did when you were fifteen, and in that room, you could feel it. With every. Damn. Song. An audience singing along with every fibre of their being. When you can’t put something into words, Deaf Havana have found a way to do it for you, and they just played it live.