Ash are trekking across America with their decisively energetic sound: a little bit of Brit pop, a little bit of guitar rock, a little bit of grunge, and a lot of raucous fun.

On February 1, the Irish band played a full Casbah for almost two hours. Ash played crowd favorites “Girl From Mars” and “Oh Yeah” early on, and then continued to thrash through their set with scorching versions of “Goldfinger,” “Kung Fu,” and “Orpheus.” They also played a great version of “Shining Light” which beautifully showcased Tim Wheeler’s voice. The band came back for a three song encore which included “Lose Control,” “Twilight of the Innocents,” and “Burn Baby Burn.”

We all know that the Casbah is one of the best venues in town to catch your favorite bands: the stage is not too high, and if you nab a front row spot, you can be inches away from the artist. But I have to ask, “What the hell was up with the crowd on Saturday night?” They were mad, mental, as Brits would say, meaning there was a lot of moshing and shoving and pushing and jumping and shouting and singing.

The band will be working on some new material and will most likely release an album in the next few months. Then they’ll tour again, and I highly recommend you make it out to their live shows.

London’s Deaf Havana opened in support their album titled Old Souls, and their 30-minute set left the packed room wanting more. The band describes their sound (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) as a cross between Foo Fighters and Mumford and Sons, but after listening to Old Souls for the last couple of days, I would say they are more like Kings of Leon, Snow Patrol, and the feel-good, fun sounds of 90s British band Dodgy.

They opened up their set with the very popular “Boston Square” and ended with “Mildred” (which is receiving a lot of airplay). An audience member yelled, “Play ‘Mildred!'” and lead singer James Veck-Gilodi retorted in a faux-snarky tone, “We are going to play Mildred.”

James conversed with the crowd throughout the set mentioning how the tour was going, how they liked San Diego, how American shots contained more alcohol than British shots, and how humbling it was to be playing in the United States. Let’s make this a habit, okay? Come on back to Southern California again soon, okay?

Ash at the Casbah

Deaf Havana at the Casbah