Politically charged songs, dad vibes and all the rock’n’roll love in the world in one room as Dave Hause takes over London’s Scala with The Mermaid.
Just a month after the digital release of his brand new record KICK, philly rocker Dave Hause returned to the UK capital with a new found love for life and a much bigger love for talking about the things that sometimes make it hard.
Having just become a father to twins earlier this year, 2019 is already looking likely to be one of Dave’s best years yet. With KICK Hause released a very personal and deep-reaching record that talks about mental health, political and societal issues but also the ups and downs of relationships. One of those tracks is The Ditch which kicks off the night. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Hause said about the single: “If you can’t change the circumstances around you, sometimes the only thing left to do is to try to make a home out of the wreckage. If all you do is shake in fear and you can find someone else who is maybe willing to do that with you, there’s a beauty in that struggle.”
A similar theme continues as he charges into Weathervane later on by explaining “Tim wrote this song about the inside of my brain, and the inside of his brain.” KICK is the first record where the brothers openly talk about their struggles with mental health.
And it’s a family affair on this night in central London as Dave and Tim’s dad join the duo on stage for a handful of songs including Divine Lorraine and Warpaint. Now, let’s talk about Warpaint for a minute, because we absolutely adore this track off Dave’s new album. It’s not often male artists take on female issues and make it work because let’s be honest, even the most understanding man in the world doesn’t “get it”. But somehow Dave Hause dug deep for this one and delivered a track that harshly critizes the war on women’s rights in the US and the general issues women face that men don’t. “You’ve got your keys between your fingers as if you had a choice. Keep your keys between your fingers, your mother’s blood in your voice.” Goosebumps and so many feelings, but mostly a glimmer of hope that if we have more men speaking out like this, we may just have a chance.
Amongst some of the heavy hitting lyrics on the new record is also one of the best love songs Hause has ever written. Fireflies is a beautiful Springsteen-esque track that makes you want to take your love by the hand and head down to the lake for a dance in the dark (pun intended).
A cover of Drew Thompson’s Stay with the help of, well Drew Thompson along with fan favourites C’mon Kid and Father’s Son close the set for the night, or at least for a few minutes until the band swiftly return to the stage for a five-star encore.
Joined one last time by their dad, Dave, Tim and band play a rockin’ performance of recent single Saboteurs, which is a ride-or-die love song off the new record. Just after Time Will Tell, Dave and his band give a massive middle finger to the leader of their home country as they launch into Dirty Fucker with a cheeky “This one goes out to you know who!”. We know, and we’re here for it.
Sealing off an emotional, cathartic punk-tastic night of music with Dave Hause and The Mermaid (and Dave’s dad) with the absolute anthem that is We Could Be Kings, Dave Hause proves to us once again why he is one of the best live rock acts around.
High Fives & Stage Dives 