On Friday 7th August, the official release date of their second album Automatic, Don Broco visited the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen for their sold out show on the London leg of their current tour. The venue, tucked away neatly in Hoxton Square, was noticeably small, fitting probably no more than 250-300 people. Don Broco already have a reputation for their live shows and with the bar dangerously close by, we were ready and buzzing for the British rockers to show us if the new tracks from Automatic could have as much of an impact live as they did on the album.
Needing no introductions as the band made their way on to the tiny stage in front of us, ‘Money Power Fame’ roared through the speakers and showed us that Don Broco still haven’t lost the incredible energy they have on stage. The sound did seem a bit muffled and bass heavy for the first few songs but this didn’t stop the crowd from singing along to ‘Yeah Man’ and ‘Superlove’ with the band still giving it all they had and really taking things into their stride.
Playing a perfect balance of old hits and new tracks from the album, the difference in sound that is noticeable in the new album just seemed to blend so well on stage. Playing one hit after another, it’s when ‘Priorities’ drops that the ‘dance party’ really gets serious. With “The Walk” being used at the necessary queues, much to the joy of the crowd, and ‘Thug Workout’ causing absolute havoc as always, the show was in full flow and proved to be one of the sweatiest gigs we have ever been to; seriously, there were people rinsing their shirts outside afterwards (definitely wasn’t us) and apparently, merch sales were increased due to “unnacceptable levels of moisture” and people in need of new shirts (again, definitely not us, promise!).
We thought we were in good shape and reasonably fit but the energy that Don Broco project from stage proved us wrong. With Rob Damiani, Si Delaney and Tom Doyle bouncing all over the stage throughout and Matt Donnelly, as always, impressing on the drums and vocals simultaneously, this show had it all; stage invasions when called upon, a sea of crowd surfing and even getting jiggy with the crowd for an Instagram video.
Apart from some levelling issues at the start, the whole show was an incredible performance. New track ‘Nerve’, though, was a particular highlight with the the falsetto vocals flawlessly performed and the general vibe of the song bring genuine joy to us in the crowd. Ending on ‘Actors’ and ‘You Wanna Know’, Don Broco absolutely wrecked this tiny venue. We came out sweaty, exhausted and having to buy new t-shirts to be deemed acceptable to the general public (sorry, we lied. It was us.) But we genuinely came out of this show feeling like we’d had the time of our lives. Don Broco have been away working hard for the last few years and now they’re back to show us exactly how hard. And it shows. Incredible album, incredible show.
