Deaf Havana kicked off their 2022 UK tour in Cardiff’s Tramshed, on the 8th of November. This was to sing new songs from their 6th studio album, ‘The present is a foreign land.’
Originally a band of 8, only 2 remain of this alternative rock band. Brothers, James and Matthew Veck-Gilodi from Norfolk were brought back together during the pandemic as they ‘felt the urge’ to start writing songs again and so that’s exactly what they did. Preforming 9 songs from their new album and 16 from the rest, they brought a good stage presence and a whole load of talent.
But before their 95-minute set two support acts took to the stage. The first one was, an alternative and indie band ‘Jaws the Shark’, with lead vocalists and guitarist, Olly Bailey, successfully hyping up the crowd between preforming his new releases. And ‘KHAZALI’ brough a whole new vibe to the stage, the lights were lowered, and he performed his indie pop songs, alongside his striking dance moves.
But the lights were lowered for long, as the room flooded with adoring fans, Deaf Havana’s set was about to begin. At 9:15pm the crowd went wild as they ran on stage catching everyone’s attention. ‘Pocari Sweat’ was the first song they performed and the fans knew it word for word, their vocals filled the room. They also went on to sing, ‘Trigger’, ‘England’ (which was accompanied with an English chant), ‘Worship’, ‘Evil’ and ‘Nevermind’. The crowd then sang happy birthday to Deaf Havana’s own, Mathew, who responded with ‘Wow thanks guys, I am so happy to be here.’
And you could really tell the brothers were, not to mention the crowd as well. Repeatedly screaming ‘I love you’ one fan showed her dedication as James even recognised her as he jokingly said, ‘oh no not her again.’ The crowd then laughed, and the band carried on playing a couple more songs, such as ‘Kids’, ‘On the wire’ and ‘Sinner’.
‘One more song’, ‘one more song’ gradually got louder as the crowd begged for another as it got towards the end of their set. And to the fans delight they got an encore of 5! – at this moment the atmosphere was unbeatable. And I can say, I have never been to a concert where the fans are in such awe of the artist, and this was really warming to see.
This was the first night of the tour, and Deaf Havana commented on Instagram the success of the night. “Thankyou for last night Cardiff, what an unbelievable crowd.”
They have 5 tour dates left around the UK and tickets are still on sale.
