I had not seen Don Broco until this summer, I was aware of the name but they were not in my vinyl collection or even in my algorithm at that time. Then thanks to a support slot a for Biffy Clyro they became part of both when they stole part of that day and became one of those bands that had me talking about and listening to them for days after a gig and more. I love it when a support band does that!
As part of that outward and internal conversation about said band there is the inevitable tour search and low and behold they were playing in a few months, just half an hour down the road at Portsmouth Guildhall which I do like as a venue. It’s a decent size space being a guildhall you’d expect that but you never feel detached from the band, there’s always an intimacy with the music there.
After a somewhat barren summer aside from Biffy Clyro and part of a festival do to things out of my control, this couldn’t have been a better return to the live music fold. Don Broco with support from Unpeople and Ando San.
As expected when Don Broco they just owned it. You’d expect a band of that force to come out firing on all cylinders, when I saw them in the summer it opened like a funny car (drag racing reference), a whirring noise, power chords, drum intro and band they’re off! This time an acoustic intro preceded True Believers which was a nice touch. Simon Delaney making great use of an acoustic guitar on a fixed stand preceding lead singer Rob Damianis arrival on stage.
From the off they were just punishing the crowd, in a good way with that wall of sound. It even had Cookie Monster, well a guy dressed up in full costume crowd surfing. I did expect the crowd to surge more and the pit to be bigger but not complaining as without going into any detail I’m on static orders from my doctor after an operation so this allowed me to get a lot closer then I expected but those with me launched into the pit which did give me a mild case of FOMO on the night!
Drummer Matt Donnelly almost angelic (sorry) with supporting vocals which form a huge part of most tracks and perfectly harmonise with Damiani, him and bassist Tom Doyle provide a faultless engine behind the rest.
The show was immense in its simplicity. I can’t help but to think with a few staged risers behind and a video wall behind this band are stadium ready, it has that power to reach and with that glad to see they are supporting Nickleback soon on a world tour although I can’t help but know they’ll leave a lasting impression on that fanbase and steal some limelight every night.
A great setlist on the night
True Believers (Acoustic intro)
Nightmare Tripping
Gumshield
Come Out to LA
Somersaults
Everybody
Money Power Fame
Swimming Pools
Euphoria
What You Do to Me
Disappear
Bruce Willis
Uber
One True Prince
Cellophane
The Corner
Encore:
T-Shirt Song
Hype Man
The pit was spinning, a constant supply of crowd surfers kept security at the front busy and it was a crowd of all ages. Two guys next to me in their early sixties had come with a son with no knowledge or expectations telling me about their early Metallica gigs. One thing is a for sure, nobody left disappointed, nobody left without a big smile on their face and the quality and sheer joy this band have and give out live! When syphoning out of a show it’s always great listening to the high pitched excitement flooding out of people discussing details of what they have just witnessed.
@we.will.trampoline.gigs @DonBroco Awesome as always last night in #Portsmouth #livemusic #donbroco #knighmaretripping ♬ original sound – we.will.trampoline.gigs
@we.will.trampoline.gigs @DonBroco Awesome as always last night in #Portsmouth #livemusic #donbroco #knightmaretrippingtour ♬ original sound – we.will.trampoline.gigs
1st Support – Ando San
Support for the night started with Ando San, I try not to look up support anymore before a gig as I like to be surprised and impressed, and I was, a search after the fact for this states he’s an American rapper, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from the San Fernando Valley, California, known for pioneering a genre-blending style called “prog-hop” that fuses technical progressive metal guitar work with experimental hip-hop. It was funky it was just ‘cool’, I enjoyed the set immensely and my hip hop and old school rap loving wife was suitably impressed as well. The drummer was awesome as was the bass player. Musically they were dialled in.
2nd Support – Unpeople
Second support was from Unpeople. Again I refrained from preemptively listening although i did read an album review on Kerrang so there was some Kudos there. Again a great choice by the organisers. Loads of swagger and stage presence with a set that was did not feel defined by genre, if you could fuse Blink 182 with Black Flag with the Darkness you be getting somewhere near what to expect. A great live set.
A noteworthy mention to however chose the music between the bands, Zorba the Greek Dance followed by back to back Beastie Boys tracks Sabotage and Sure Shot I thank you.
Take a look at our Tik Tok channels for more videos from the night
