LIVE REVIEW & GALLERY: You Me At Six @ LCR UEA, Norwich

Saturday 10th February 2024

Support from Call to Amour & Deaf Havana

It isn’t until you get to shows like You Me At Six, bands first encountered in your much more youthful days that you suddenly realise how time has sped away and youth is no longer on your side. Crowds of 30-something EMO desperately trying to cling on to their youth, adorned in thick black eyeliner and black nails truly is a sight to behold. A feeling of adolescence and nostalgia certainly washed over me.

What isn't something to behold is merch prices! £40 for a t-shirt, come on! I know smaller bands rely on merch sales to survive, but I don’t think YM@6 is short of a quid or two with the 1+ million monthly Spotify streams. This was daylight robbery and even more than merch prices at London shows.

Anyway, that aside tonight provided a mixed bag for me. A new band to my airwaves, an old favourite that didn't disappoint and one that left me underwhelmed.

Call Me Amour featuring Yasin’s Harry Rashford is an Isle of Man hardcore outfit. Blending dark electronica with distorted guitars, their sound is eruptive and electrifying. Brash and hard-hitting yet unexpectedly introspective and vulnerable. They mix EDM with powerful guitars and elaborate hooks. They provide a ballsy, confident stage show that offers a captivating emotional journey. I’d never encountered the band before and found myself entranced by their sound. They owned the stage and the crowd as if they were playing a headline show.

Next were the band I was more excited for, Norfolk’s very own Deaf Havana. Over the years, post-hardcore has become alt-rock, 5 has become 2, times have changed, friends have left, and life hasn't stopped for anyone. New albums have come out, old ones have been forgotten. Yet amidst line-up changes, unfamiliar songs, and ageing bones, it's like life has stood still. Despite Deaf Havana falling off my radar some 10 years past, not really knowing anything from “Fools and Worthless Liars” through to the current album “The Present is a Foreign Land,” everything felt safe and known. Nostalgic, youthful, and familiar. The band's sound is like a coming-of-age, a show of maturity and progression within their contemplative themes, yet the feeling they evoke is a regression back through the years, almost romantic or otherworldly. Deaf Havana is a band who, while shape-shifting slightly to accommodate an evolving audience or channel musical growth, have kept to a steadfast formula of soaring melodies, self-deprecating, emotionally charged resonate lyrics, and a powerful alt-rock sound. Tonight they stole the show. Songs I'd never heard felt like playlist staples; their on-stage demeanor was confident but humble. I might have been disappointed the night before got ‘Leeches’ and sad my favourite ‘Hunstanton Pier’ has long since been omitted from the set, but the sense of joy I got from hearing a band I'd once seen some 8 times in the same year for the first time in over 10 was one of the most profound and nostalgic feelings I've ever had at a gig.

Moving on to what should have been the night's highlight but instead the part that fell short in every way, You Me At Six. Celebrating 10 years of their “Cavalier Youth” album, I wanted to love their set; I wanted the same feeling of nostalgia Deaf Havana had provided, but instead, I just felt underwhelmed. I must admit bar a little flirtation with it in the lead up to the gig I'm not familiar with the record, I thought it sounded okay recorded, but their sound has shifted so much since “Take Off Your Colours” and “Hold Me Down” they’re barely recognizable as the same band. Sure, their sound was grand and dynamic, but it was far too EDM-based, but not in a unique industrial way like Call Me Amour, in a more commercial, chart-friendly way. I liked the mantra of inclusivity and to not be “cunts,” but I must admit the designer swearing wore thin after a while. I'm not against well-placed swearing to hammer home a message, but it got to the point where it felt like it was posh boys swearing to be rebellious. Introducing ‘Bite My Tongue’ as a chance to let out frustration, the song felt all a bit tame. The acoustic interlude worked well, and ‘Stay With Me’ was a nice blast from the past. The latter part of the set with lots of DnB-infused moments totally lost my interest, and it was only when they played old faithful and the biggest hit ‘Underdogs’ that it was piqued again. YM@S were a magnificent, dynamic alt-rock band. Brimming with likely lad charm, emotional and impassioned, the evolution over the years hasn’t worked in my opinion, selling out for commercial gain - the sad story of so many bands. They somehow managed to feel too much, too unsettled within their sound yet strangely also not enough. I went in unfamiliar with the majority of their material since the late 2000s fully expecting swooping guitars and an emotionally charged set, but instead, I got something that clearly wanted to be pop music. The band announced their split recently and announced a farewell tour for 2025; they asked the crowd if they would come back if they played Norwich again which was met with a monstrous approving roar, the crowd clearly got it even if I didn’t.

Something that’s always interesting is speaking to other people at these gigs and getting their views. Conversing with another tog after the show and his option was vastly different from my own. Both agreed we were very impressed with Call Me Amour. He didn't enjoy Deaf Havana but thought YM@6 was fantastic and really enjoyed all the EDM infusion. It just goes to show how subjective music is and how differently everyone's ears hear sounds. For me, YM@6 were completely in Deaf Havana’s shadows; they were the best band on the night by miles. I certainly won't be leaving in 10 years to see them live again.