Following the recent release of their new album Amazing Things, last night Don Broco brought the album, plus many of their much-loved classics, to Rock City. However, they have spoilt us with not just one night, but two back-to-back headline shows, and Gemma Cockrell was lucky enough to catch them at their (sold out!) opening night in Nottingham.
Don Broco evidently thrive off the energy of the crowd when performing live. Rob Damiani is an incredibly commanding frontman, hyping everyone up from the moment he stepped on stage, leading to an abundance of crowd surfing and mosh pits (and people doing push ups in the middle of the crowd?!). But it wasn’t just his stage presence that was notable; the band had clearly gone to full efforts with their stage set up too. The lighting array was unlike anything I had ever witnessed in a smaller scale venue before – in fact, it was more similar to what you would expect from a full arena show. Don Broco didn’t hold back at all, capturing the typical £50 per ticket arena experience and bringing it to a much more intimate venue.
However, it wasn’t only Don Broco who put on an excellent show. I must give a shoutout to the two support acts, Kid Brunswick and NOISY, who were met by an impressively enthusiastic reaction from the crowd. Despite being unable to match Don Broco’s showiness or high-octane energy, they warmed everyone up nicely before the main event. They had evidently earned the seal of approval from Don Broco too, who even brought the two frontmen on stage during their own set to accompany them through a performance of ACTION, a one-off collaborative single that the band released towards the end of 2019, but were robbed of performing live at the time due to the pandemic.
''It had everything you could ask for: stunning visuals, infectious energy, and some of the catchiest and anthemic rock songs''
Two members of Don Broco studied at the University of Nottingham, resulting in what felt extremely similar to a homecoming show, despite the band actually hailing from Bedford. Damiani even expressed at one point towards the end of the show that it felt like he was performing to a home crowd, before launching into the band’s staple encore of T-Shirt Song. A song about taking your T-shirt off and waving it above your head, it was unsurprising when he admitted to the crowd that the single was inspired by his days partying at Nottingham’s Ocean nightclub. Even from my viewpoint on the balcony of Rock City, I took my T-shirt off and joined in with the fun.
Overall, it is extremely difficult to criticise Don Broco’s live show. It had everything you could ask for: stunning visuals, infectious energy, and some of the catchiest and most anthemic rock songs that I have heard in a long time. I can’t help but sit here, writing this, and envying anyone who is catching them tonight for their second show in Nottingham – and to anyone who was lucky enough to be there last night, I wouldn’t blame you for heading back to Rock City again tonight to catch them one more time.
Written by: Gemma Cockrell
Edited by: Amrit Virdi
Featured image and in-article images courtesy of Gemma Cockrell. No changes made to these images.
In article videos courtesy of Don Broco via YouTube.
Comments