The O2 Ritz in Manchester is one of the city’s most iconic venues. With a maximum capacity of 1500, and having hosted legendary acts such as The Smiths, The Beatles, and Kendrick Lamar, getting the opportunity just to headline The Ritz is a milestone many British acts may only dream of, never mind selling it out. But that is exactly what Deaf Havana did. Sold. It. Out. A show on a Sunday night completely sold out two months before the tour was due to start.
For a show celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of Deaf Havana’s “Fools And Worthless Liars", it would be expected to be greeted by a crowd of mostly millennials who may have grown up with the band. It was in fact quite a shock to see a room full of people varying in ages from early teens to boomers.
First up on the stage were The Dangerous Summer who were playing their album “Reach For The Sun” in full. As long-time tour mates of Deaf Havana, the majority of the crowd knew who they were, and as such the band got to play the stage like they were headliners. Throughout their set they had people dancing and singing along both on the floor and up on the balcony. The guitarist took a minute between songs to mention how much he loves Manchester, having once been a student at UOM making this night essentially a hometown show for him. If there’s one thing that will get a crowd of Mancunians to love you, it’s bigging up their city. If anyone there was unfamiliar, they surely would have left as a fan.
If the room felt packed in at the start of the night, that was nothing to how it felt in the moments leading up to Deaf Havana taking the stage. The second the lights came back on after The Dangerous Summer, all those who had been hanging around by one of the bars started slowly piling into the middle of the room. You could feel the hot and sweaty tension as everyone prepared themselves eagerly for what they'd been waiting months to witness. Then the lights went back down and the crowd erupted. The moment was here.
Deaf Havana took to the stage with a boom of cheers and applause, then, with no introduction, began their set with The Past Six Years. This tour was the first time in a while the band had played some of these songs, and you could tell instantly how much fans had missed hearing them on a setlist. From the get go it was almost impossible to hear the vocalist as he was nearly drowned out by the choir that was the crowd. The energy never got a chance to die down. The fans would not allow it. If you’ve ever been to The Ritz you might have seen the signs that forbid crowd surfing, that didn't stop a fair few brave souls from taking the risk and going for it. If they ended up being removed from the venue by security, let's hope that getting dapped up by the band was worth it.
The band took a lot of time to talk to the crowd in between songs. Mostly expressing gratitude and finding it slightly hard to believe that so many people still care enough to want to hear them play songs they wrote fifteen years ago. The guitarist even shared a story about how one of the last times they played Manchester, his child was born the same night. This show clearly meant as much to the band as it did the crowd, with a lot of tears shed and love spread by both.
As the night drew to a close and Deaf Havana said their final goodbyes to the crowd, it was clear that this show was more than just the anniversary of “Fools And Worthless Liars”. It was a celebration of everything the last fifteen years has brought to the band and to those who hold them close. If this sold out show proved anything, it’s that, even after all this time, these songs haven’t lost their magic and neither have Deaf Havana. Here’s hoping the fans won’t have to wait another fifteen years to hear these songs again.
