 It's
a cold wet night in Birmingham, but tonight there
are 3 great up and coming bands to check out at
the academy 2. For once there are no cues as sensibly
the first band starts 45 minutes after doors open
so everyone can get inside and not miss a thing.
After walking into the room, you can tell it’s
going to be a fun night as its already hot and
with people ready to rock.
Dangerous Summer are first up, but unfortunately
all the band are missing! Only singer/guitarist
AJ Perdomo is here, so instead of pulling out
on the opening night of the tour he's decided
to do an unplugged set. He looks rather nervous
as he's on his own and normally he’d have
is band mates for support. The room watches him
in silence as he goes through a mish mash of a
set list that would probably be amazing if he
had a band with him. It sounds a bit off for the
first few songs, but its gets good though, when
he changes to an acoustic guitar as it’s
clean and clear and powerful. It isn’t the
best but he has got balls to go it alone, so you
have to give him that! I'm sure if you’re
a Dangerous Summer fan this would be a double
edged sword as one you’d be excited to see
the band and so disappointed it’s just AJ
but it’s a special treat as this won’t
be done again. But to people who don't know them
it doesn't give their songs the justice they deserve.
He does a decent job but the room wants rock not
acoustic, luckily next up is some good ole punk
rock.
 Flint,
Michigan band The Swellers come onto the s2age
and kick off with a bang. They open with their
latest single "In My Head" which wakes
everyone in the room up and gets them rocking
out. It's loud, its fast, its punk, it's rock,
it's great. The Swellers go through a great setlist,
mixing old and new into a coherent meshing of
rock thunder. They move around the stage like
they own it, playing powerful rhythms whilst singer
Nick Diener roars out great vocals which in turn
harmonise with brother John on drums, who is also
playing his heart out pounding them like it’s
going out of style. I said it back in December
and I'll say it again now "why aren’t
The Swellers massive when they rock so hard".
The band barely talk to the crowd until before
“Best I Ever Had” where they thank
everyone for coming out and supporting music,
they also mention how they don’t do this
for big corporations for massive money they do
it for the music, I know allot of bands say this
but at the time of writing I heard from Nick before
the gig that they're leaving they're label to
go it alone so they definitely practice what they
preach. They have set the bar high but next up
are Deaf Havana who are hopefully going to push
it higher, with what is going to be a killer live
show full of rock and a bit of acoustic mixed
in.
 Deaf
Havana enter the stage slowly building up and
then bursting into they’re latest single
“Leeches” which sets the room on fire.
The stage lighting is amazing for the academy
2 and they’re flooded with bright lights
illuminating all 5 members magnificently. They
rock out and play some great tracks including
“The World Or Nothing” “Hunstanton
Pier” and “Nicotine” which is
a good mix of old and new. They sound good but
the bass overpowers the vocals in parts. They
all bounce around the stage and get into the swing
of things. They’ve come a long way over
the past few years and with that and the pressure
of having to change styles due to a band member
leaving its amazing how well they perform. Tonight’s
gig was meant to be in the smaller academy 3 but
due to the phenomenal demand they’ve been
pushed up, they’ve sold out too, it’s
really impressive that a band who’ve been
going for years are finally getting the recognition
they deserve. They mix things up part way and
get a friend on stage to duet with them, they
then decide to play “You Are Beautiful”
on Banjo which changes the style of the song so
well. I’ve only ever seen Deaf Havana once
before and that was at Sonisphere in 2010, that
was due to; there being no-one else decent on
and due to the amazing song “Friends Like
These”, unfortunately tonight they decide
to change the pace and play an acoustic style
 version
for the first part of the song which in my humble
opinion spoils it, I really enjoyed the energy
and pace of the song before but now it’s
slow and just plods along. I know they’ve
played it countless times but there is a good
reason for that; people like it that way! But
to be fair that is my only real complaint, they
play a great set and end with “The Past
Six Years” and “Fifty Four”
which brings the house that the Swellers set on
fire, down to the ground.
Everyone goes home happy and all it all it was
a good night, a rocky start with a good middle
and a different but thoroughly entertaining end.
I personally think that The Swellers where the
best band, but the crowd where more impressed
with Deaf Havana so I have to give them a better
score as they did really well on the first date
of this long and mainly sell out tour.
Dangerous Summer – 2/5
The Swellers 4/5
Deaf Havana 4.5/5
Review By James Daly
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