Deaf Havana @ The Dutchess, York

Deaf Havana - The Duchess, York 19/7/11

This was my first ever gig I have been to in York and didn't really know what to expect from the crowd or the venue, Deaf Havana topped the line-up with support from The First and Not Advised. We have interviews with both Deaf Havana and Not Advised which will be posted shorty.

First to the stage were The First, a pop-punk band with a post-hardcore edge which gives them a fighting chance in the modern day rock scene, opening brilliantly on the night gaining a lot of crowd support and showing a great presence, it wasn't hard to see why they were picked for support and I have no doubt that they are more than capable of pushing themselves right to the top.

Next to the stage were one of my favorites, Not Advised, who I had seen before in Sheffield on tour with Canterbury. As I have mentioned we have an interview with all of the band to be posted soon! They seemed really comfortable up on the stage and really demonstrated why they are slowly starting to dominate the pop-punk music scene, gaining crowd involvement instantly and having their words sung back to them by the crowd must have been a real eye-opener for the guys. The band are in a good position to dominate the UK and with the amount of talent inside of the band I can't see it being a difficult task for them, watch this space!

Finally up to the stage were Deaf Havana, who are practically god-like in the up-coming music scene and have been since releasing their single 'Friends Like These' which vastly propelled them into the spotlight. We caught up with Guitarist Chris Pennells and drummer Tom Ogden before the show, so keep an eye out for that. Bursting on to the stage with Smiles All Around, one of the newer tracks they wrote and recorded after the departure of scream vocalist Ryan Mellor you could see that they had settled into a newer sound and were comfortable with the new Deaf Havana, as mentioned in the interview the band think they have settled in and believe the fans are happy with their new sound too. They played a variety of old songs such as 'Friends Like These' and some newer songs which will be featured on the new album due out some time in October, the new sounding Deaf Havana has a pop-punk, feel good vibe with a strong presence of their older work, good enough to please any fan. We had some crazy moments during the set when bananas were placed on the drum kit and launched at Chris by their own back-room team! But all in all I can safely say Deaf Havana have the ball moving in the right direction and we have a lot yet to see from the guys.

Thanks to Not Advised and Deaf Havana for speaking to us, stay tuned for the interviews!

Adam.