Deaf Havana – 4th ROAD BLOG from U.S. Tour with Ash

The UK-based rock band, Deaf Havana, is currently on their first U.S. tour ever supporting the Northern Irish alternative rock band, Ash. While they are on this tour, the band’s lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist, James Veck-Gilodi, will be writing a blog to tell you about the experiences he is having with his band while on this tour. You can check out the fourth and final entry, after the break.

February 14, 2014 – Philadelphia, PA
Our NYC show was cancelled so we skipped straight to Philadelphia. Upon arrival we were greeted with a bottle of fireball courtesy of a lovely band called Modern Suits. We also met some lovely guys in a band called Born Cages. We met up with our label guy Bob and went out for a meal at some “Irish” pub. We were nervous as it was a headline show but surprisingly it was pretty good. One of the most fun shows we have played in a long time. The stage was really tiny so it was a squeeze with us being six people but we managed it. Poor old Lee didn’t have a monitor again so he had to guess a little but I think we all enjoyed it. By this point we are all pretty homesick but Philadelphia was a little more like England which we appreciated mucho.

February 15, 2014 – Toronto, ON
We were all quite excited about going to Canada but we woke up to a snow storm and almost turned around and didn’t play the show. It was nice (no offence) to be in Canada and not the USA for a change. The venue was great and the staff were so lovely and accommodating. We sound checked and everything sounded great, we then left in search of a bar and found one pretty quickly (we are experts). We instantly met these two really nice guys who happened to be going to our show, they bought us a few rounds and we chatted for an hour or 2. When we returned to the venue, to our surprise it was completely full of people. We never expected this at all because we had never even set foot in Toronto before! The support bands were both great which was a welcome surprise and we met a few nice people whilst they were playing. We got onstage to a huge applause which again, was unexpected. The show was great, the crowd were amazing which obviously gave us more energy to play well and we all had such a good show. We played a few songs which were extremely unrehearsed and one which we hadn’t played in over a year, a little sketchy but one of the fans had requested it so I thought we should try our best. We came off stage smiling and amazed at the fact that this many people knew who we were. We ended the night with a few more drinks (especially Tom as it was his birthday) and left for our hotel feeling rather pleased with ourselves, also the fact that we were going home soon was heavy in our minds.

February 17, 2014 – Allston Boston, MA
Finally it was the last show of our American run! My overall mood had been so up and down on this tour, I’m more pathetic than the other members of my band and I’m probably not cut out for touring as much as they are, but I hadn’t lost my voice at all in this whole month which was unheard of for me so that was an upside at least. We turned up early to Allston, it was still pretty snowy and freezing cold (still not used to this) but the venue was cool and the bar staff were friendly. The area we were in was pretty cool, we looked around a little and found a cool skate shop and a nice music shop, not that I had any money to buy anything though. Born Cages (the band from our Philly show) were playing so that was quite nice to see some familiar faces. As stage time approached we had a few beers and met a few nice people, the turnout left a little to be desired, especially after Toronto but we can’t complain because we’ve never been here before. We went onstage at around 11 I think, so I was pretty tired by now. The show was surprisingly fun, even though there were very few people there. Like Toronto, we played a few songs which we hadn’t played in a while but they worked out. As we came off stage I think we were all pretty happy that this was our last stop. It had been an experience to say the least, this American tour. Never have I experienced so many ups and downs on a tour. I think in retrospect I will realize it was a great experience, like meeting so many unforgettable people and seeing some amazing places. But thus, as we packed the van and left Allston, our American tour was over and I think we were all glad to be going back to dear old Blighty in a days time, Gilodi out.

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