After a couple of hours on the M5, we were looking forward to seeing the mighty DEAF HAVANA headline the O2 Academy in Bristol, we saw these guys tear the roof off the place back in 2017 and we were keen to see if they were going to repeat the performance….

Kicking off proceedings were Manchester based, emo powerpunk outfit HOT MILK, with their dynamic vocals and hard hitting riffs captivating the crowd from the get go. Fronted by Han and Jim, a dynamic duo who created an incredible amount of satisfying noise worked hard to warm up the crowd.

Their debut EP Are You Feeling Alive is launched on 3rd May and you can catch them playing at DOWNLOAD and READING & LEEDS FESTIVAL and supporting a small American band called FOO FIGHTERS (you might have heard of them!)

Following the opening act were Scottish trio THE LAFONTAINES who literally bombarded the crowd with track after track featuring swift and heavy lines, backed up by their immense guitar. Their onstage presence took the capacity crowd at Bristol’s O2 Academy to boiling point and left them simmering, ready for the headline act!

DEAF HAVANA graced the stage, with a room full of dry ice, it took a while to clear and obscured just about everything on stage including the band members and everything in between.

They launched into their set with tracks from their latest long player RITUALS. The set list then mixed with older, more classic material such as ‘Mildred’ which had the room up and bouncing along to this classic Deaf Havana tune.

The band made sure to go back to their roots and please the crowd with (and I quote James) “plenty of miserable songs” which sounded incredible, being skilfully delivered on an acoustic guitar. As the set came to a close, they ended with their massive sing-a-long tune, ‘Sinner’, this truly was the biggest sin as a huge and amazingly entertaining night of music had come to an end.

Review and Photography by Elliot Tratt