Concert review: Vana w/ Red Hook, Deadlands, & Chandler Leighton | 05.03.26, Delmar Hall (with photo gallery)

Photo of Vana live at Delmar Hall by Michael O’Connor

Guitars snarled, drums cracked, and lead singer of Red Hook Emmy Mack cut through the air with ferocity. Her set opened the night, but everyone was immediately pulled in, and a crowd of individuals were caught in a storm of fluorescent red that she summoned from the stage.

Deadlands followed, and the atmosphere deepened with a darker blue and purple. Her sound rolled in slow at first, but a tide of heavy screams filled the room with a strong melodic force.

Chandler Leighton’s voice is calm and airy. It builds up and compounds as it crescendos. This vocal control was so impressively intimate, sung with a haunting softness. Chandler performs like she’s opening the door to somewhere private and dimly lit, and every lyric is written just for a small crowd. While during the high energy moments, her voice ricochets off the walls of Delmar Hall, and bass guitarist Aubrey Harris can make the venue vibrate with her solos.

I’ve seen Vana before, but she returned to Delmar Hall as a headliner and a force in her own right. Her new singles,“Pray” and “In Your Name,” hit like thunder. She moved around the stage with confidence and the audience felt this energy with every step. Halfway through her set, she split the crowd at the middle to create a wall of death. An eruption of limbs and laughter as bodies collided in a mosh that defines true rock culture. Through it all, her voice soared above the frenzy, clear and commanding. Guitarists spun in tight circles as Vana’s melodic screams cut through the cheering crowd, her presence anchoring the passion in her songs. She left me genuinely impressed once again, and it’s clear her music is only going to keep growing in the years ahead. | Michael O’Connor

Vana Setlist
Pray
Noxious
Harlequin!
Pleaser
In Your Name
Serpentine
Bite Back
Crawling
Die For Me!
Beg!
Clandestine