You Me At Six - Deaf Havana - Call Me Armour

From what was initially going to be a celebration of their 2014 album ‘Cavalier Youth’, a shock announcement by You Me At Sixwho have decided to call it at day in 2025, tonight suddenly became the chance to say thank you and goodbye to one of the biggest and best bands around.

As the queue snaked around the halls of residence across the UEA, the atmosphere was full of anticipation and excitement of what was to come. We knew we were going to get a set full of sure fire bangers but the emotions pouring out of both the band themselves and their adoring fans was something to behold.

But before the emotions took hold we had a couple of supports to get the night moving.

Opening band Call Me Amour hit us with a mix of sonic guitars and dark electronica. Frontman Harry Radford was full of verve, climbing into the audience and getting everyone involved. Songs like the opening track ‘Blackout’ and ‘Girl On The Wall’ were fused with energy and emotion, though their set may have been short it was mighty.

Up next we had one of Norfolk’s finest Deaf Havana, who despite losing two members of the band and almost calling it a day in 2021, sounded revitalised and reborn.

Brothers James and Matthew Veck-Gilodi decided to keep going and for that, we can be truly thankful.

Tonight, they raced through their set, giving us sing-a-long anthems like ‘Trigger’, the chorus had me singing long into the night and still at this very moment as I type, and *‘Sinner’,*with its electro beat and driven bass that got the audience moving. Their sound is joyous, you could feel the love for the band in the room and that was reciprocated from the stage.

Closing with ‘Fever’ a dark, deep anthem for the ages, Deaf Havana proved that sometimes things can grow from adversity. Here’s to new music and more moments of magic from them.

Back to the main event, You Me At Six.

From the get go it was a wall of sound and emotion. Opening with a number of songs from the aforementioned ‘Cavalier Youth’ we truly hit the ground running ‘Fresh Start Fever’ and ‘Room To Breathe’ launched off the stage and into our collective hearts. ‘Too Young To Feel This Old' and ‘Cold Night’ had the crowd singing along with every single word and note, the musicianship was tight, infectious and driven.

There was time for a quick acoustic set “our Backstreet Boys” moment no less before a collection of “sure fire bangers” that illustrated singer Josh Franceschi’s infectious live energy and ‘Save It For The Bedroom’ saw a sea of crowd surfers climbing towards the stage. Some may have fallen but all were having the time of their lives. ‘Bite My Tongue’ was the heaviest of the heavy bangers with the crowd rejoicing in the presence of a true anthem.

The three-song encore included a revitalised version of ‘Underdog’ and ended with the rave anthem ‘Beautiful Way’ leaving the room still full of energy, raw emotion and elation.

2025 will see You Me At Six tour one last time, and we can only hope for one last rodeo here in Norwich, if that happens, I’ll see you down the front.

Sixers for life.