Gig Review: Steady Habits - The Victoria, Birmingham. Tuesday 18th November 2025

EPs, solo appearances, festival sets and support slots are merely the building blocks up to the point where you take your full band on a debut album launch tour. Steady Habits have arrived at that moment after a lengthy run up period with a short tour of UK dates in support of the recently released Deviate. Sean Duggan has been a respected player on a tight-knit music scene for around a decade but is starting to blossom now he’s found the right vehicle to express an identity. Originally from New Haven Connecticut, Duggan is an honorary Brit and first came to prominence in the duo Loud Mountains with his brother Kevin. Many subsequent live appearances have honed a style which has been giftedly modelled by assembling a fine band for studio and stage work. When in the full complement of Duggan (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica), Joe Coombs (electric guitar), Cathy Ife (bass) and Jamie Dawson (drums), Steady Habits are at their best and this came to the fore on the opening night of the tour.

The Victoria in Birmingham city-centre  is more known as a pre-theatre stopping off point than the host of live music, although they appear to be increasingly active in the latter. The next door Alex was having its premiere of Miss Saigon, but the place to be was in the upstairs room of its neighbouring pub listening to three grassroots artists putting everything into an extensive performance. Half hour support sets from Pete Hubbard and Saint Senara paved the way for Steady Habits to exceed the hour in the headline slot as all three left an individual stylish imprint on the evening.

Pete Hubbard opened the evening at 8:00. This singer-songwriter from Shropshire bases his style on modern country music and doesn’t leave anything behind when powering through an array of songs. These were all originals bar a cover of Tyler Childers’ ‘Feathered Indians’, including a country staple ‘Whiskey & Wine’ and a more reflective one about mortality at a young age. Hubbard’s music is built to cut through boisterous environments and had little problem filling a more placid place like a Tuesday night in The Victoria.

Saint Senara hail from Cheltenham and are a duo consisting of Andrew Bate and Chloe Gorman. They are more on the darker side of Americana than country with a black attire and atmospheric sound giving a goth credence. Bate carved out some seriously loud songs on the electric but equally tempered the acoustic to good effect. Gorman’s vocals, solo and in harmony, impressively portrayed a range of songs conveying depth and eminence. The pick of their time in the spotlight were the accomplished acoustic murder ballad ‘Flowers on my Grave’ and the escalating grungy uptempo number ‘There’s a Storm Coming’.

The diverse support laid the groundwork for Steady Habits to crown the evening with a memorable set of tunes plastered with the Americana spirit ie rocky, well-written, meaningful and pasted with a country sheen. Coombs and Dawson are seen with many bands on the circuit and never fail to impress. Ife tends to be more closely aligned with Steady Habits and it is always welcome to see greater gender equality on the bass guitar. Duggan glowed with pride as he dealt the entirety of Deviate plus a few more off a past EP. The set admirably evolved with all facets of a great show shining brightly at the end. 

The highs from the setlist tended to be similar to the record, although you could argue the live version of ‘Garden State’ took this stellar tune to a new level with the band firing on all cylinders. Solo shredding from Coombs is a common sight and he illuminated the guitar parts of ‘Half’ in the early stages. ‘Deviate’ is likely to be Duggan’s lifelong anthem. The band took a breather for five minutes as this personal homage bends new ears with each emotive play. 

The Steady Habits song that continues to grow is the sublimely melody driven ‘Novelty’ with its 60s pop trappings glittering in gold. The folk side cut through in the  invited audience participation to ‘After the Light’ in the encore slot. For moments when the feet get an itch to move a little ‘Mess of It All’ pops up to apply some animated rhythm.

With headline shows and CDs to sell at the merch table, a sense of arrival defines Steady Habits as 2025 draws to a close. A year the band came of age. This is most welcome and long overdue. You can’t beat grassroots music at its accessible best and The Victoria hosted a superb night with three well equipped and complementary acts doing what they do best.