Don Broco, London XOYO, July 2012
As our May feature stated, Don Broco are a band with a real buzz about them at present, having signed to Sony for the August release of debut album Priorities and attracting huge crowds at the likes of Download Festival, big things are aligning on the horizon. And tonight, the London date of their stint supporting fellow British rockers Futures, it's easy to see why. For a 25-minute support slot, the band seriously give it some, it's a refreshing depiction of a band genuinely loving and wanting what they do.
The four members are one huge blurry ball of energy, frontman Rob Damiani teases the crowd with amusing banter while guitarist Simon Delaney just doesn't stop moving, carrying the band's sound seamlessly as their one and only guitarist, and most noticeably of all, they sound tight creating a huge barrage of sound that loses nothing in the mix. Opening with the already fan-favourite title-track from their forthcoming record, the confines of Shoreditch's XOYO instantly become a bouncing sweaty mass, with the spiky melodies of Beautiful Morning bringing energy levels close to breaking point before the bruising set highlight of the band's first single Thug Workout crushes into view. Damiani's shouts for the crowd to part and start a 'push-up pit' led by three members of the band, now off stage including a headband-toting Delaney, sparks loads of fun and is a killer touch, not to mention the growingly infamous synchronised running-man antics of the 'walk' that came earlier in the set. New track and recent single Actors brings the band's short set to a close with a permanent circle-pit and leaves the audience sweaty and tired but beaming from left to right as they wait for the headliners.
Broco might still be progressing in terms of sound but live they're close to being the finished article, and this extremely impressive showing is one of many examples as to why.