After releasing their new album – Amazing Things – recently, Don Broco brought their last night of the tour to Bristol, turning a quiet Tuesday night into something full of energy and excitement!
The show was opened by Kid Brunswick, a grunge artist from London. He opened the night with a mix of tracks from across his catalogue, including tracks off his new mixtape XFOREVER. He did his job of getting the crowd warmed up brilliantly, getting people moving and enjoying his music, even if his attempts at starting a mosh pit came to not much. Although his grunge-rap-rock style isn’t normally my kind of listen to music, I really enjoyed the set and think that Harry did a good job in getting everyone hyped up for the next bands.
After this was NOISY, a four piece from the South Coast. Another mix-and-match of musical genres and talents, these guys got the crowd moving even more. Now that most people had arrived at the venue, the atmosphere was really starting to build and people were getting excited. Although they only played a short support set, these guys could easily hold their own playing as the main band, they knew perfectly how to get a crowd and hold them, and I’m sure they’ll be walking away with some new fans after their set.
And then it was onto the main band. Although slightly delayed in coming on, when Don Broco hit that stage, they hit it hard. Opening the set with a song off the new album is always a brave thing for any artist to do, but playing Manchester Super Reds No.1 Fan first was certainly the right choice. The crowd were loving it, and the band kept that energy and love going.
Within the first three songs, the crowd was going like they’d been partying all night! The mosh pits were insane, and being a rock crowd, everyone was being looked after by those around, and if people fell, they were helped back up again.
Throughout the rest of the night, Don Broco played a wide range of their back catalogue, including plenty of songs from the new album, as well as older tracks to get the more established fans moving. When I say this crowd was good, I mean they were good. I don’t think I’ve experience a performance where the artists on stage and the crowd were like one together. It was insane!
Kid Brunswick came back on stage to join the band for the song Action, and after a short break from frontman Rob Daminani to “regain his stamina” (I’ll let you decide what that means), the band kept the good times rolling until the first big finish.
Bruce Willis was the song that brought the main set to a finish, with a picture of the man himself displayed behind the band, and everyone screaming back “Yippee Ki-Yay” back with the band.
After the walk-off-walk-on from the band, the song Everybody got the crowd moving and moshing one more time, before the proper big finish of the night.
T-Shirt song had everybody taking their tops off, and spinning them around their heads. Although a bit of a copy of Skindred’s Newport Helicopters, it was still super fun to watch and be a part of, a final moment of crowd and band connection.
And that was it, another night of rocking out and pure happiness. Don Broco rocked out the O2 Academy, and I’m sure everyone who went had a good time and hopefully left happy.
The only thing that hindered the night for me was the actions of a couple of the security guards at the venue. I am happy to say I have been in contact with the O2 Academy Bristol and these issues are being resolved.
As always, I’d like to thank the band and crew for putting on a great show, as well as the venue staff and the rest of the security for making sure everyone else was having a good time.
Review and photos by Ted Stargatt for TrueStyleMusic
TrueStyleMusic 