Gig Review: Deja Vega at The Bodega

As I get set up for this gig, one guy proudly tells me this is the fifth time he has seen Deja Vega. I tell him I’d had my ticket since August 2020. He insists I write a good review. “I will if they deserve it,” I reply. 

Before they can win me over though, we have a couple of warm-up acts. First on the bill is the rocky Death Store, or perhaps Salt Heavy Band - apparently one of the band members changed the name on social media. So by the time you read this, who knows which name they will have… They belt out a few tunes to get the place moving.

Next up we have Kynch: thumping drums and jangly guitar with possible touches of early Nirvana and proper raw-sounding vocals.  Their last track has great tempo and mood changes, and their first single, Romance, comes out on Friday 11 March. 

After this, it’s time for Deja Vega - who stroll casually up on stage to set up and leap straight into It’s All Gone Wrong from their most recent album, Personal Hell - with screeching psychedelic guitar and insistent, spat-out vocals. By the time they start their second track, Mr Powder, both the band and the audience are beginning to feel it.

Next up is the excellent Spitting Gas, a bass-led, angry anthem; Mike Newton doing an excellent job of pounding out the bass line. 

For their seventh track, Banshee, they introduce an acid-tinged, techno rhythm on a synth; an intriguing departure from their previous tracks. This is followed up by Pentagrams, from their excellent, self-titled first album, which takes us back to the punchy psych rock of the rest of the set. By now a mosh pit is starting to form; Tom Webster later tells me this is a new thing and they’ve only seen it on this post-lockdown tour. 

In terms of sound, they really like their brittle, high frequencies with jangly, psychedelic, rhythm guitar and lots of crash cymbals - but underneath it all, the bass guitar and kick drum propel things forward at an unstoppable pace.

As Jack introduces their final track, The Test, he tells us, in no uncertain terms, how pleased they are to finally be able to play this gig. Audience reaction suggests we agree. Cue the synth. As the track builds for a full twelve minutes, we are beginning to get into Prog territory, but on Deja Vega’s terms. The crowd, always receptive, are really getting into it. One person crowd-surfs around for a while and several others are hoisted onto shoulders. Jack climbs down into the audience with his guitar, never missing a beat of his riff. He climbs back onto the stage, but returns immediately with a cow bell that he gives to the guy who had been talking to me earlier, who then becomes a temporary fourth member, totally making his night. An excellent way to finish a great set. He’s right - they do deserve a good review.