Band: Don Broco
Venue: The Roundhouse, London
Support: Lonely The Brave, Bad Rabbits
Date: 07/12/13
Its hard to believe that only nine months ago, tonight’s headliners, Don Broco toured the UK, with their London date set in the small, yet perfectly formed venue, the Underworld. Tonight, the Bedford four-piece are headlining the acclaimed Roundhouse to a sold out crowd, just up the road with ‘Priorities’ still a huge success over a year after its release. Here’s what we thought of tonight’s offerings.
Cambridge based epic-rockers Lonely The Brave opened the show, hailing their latest EP, ‘Backroads’. With praise from the likes of Radio 1, expectations were sky high, but unfortunately, their set lacked some what. Whilst their musicianship and musicality was admirable, the disjointed nature of the band was at times confusing. Lead vocalist, David Jakes positioned himself to the side of the stage, and although his vocals brimmed with talent, reaching the highest notes, his disengagement with the crowd and other band members created a show that desired energising. But with catchy drum beats and an eloquent melodic rock tone, crowd appreciation filtered through. However, with the front-man appearing to be guitarist and their nerves at times setting in, their set was more second on the podium than first place.
Boston, Massachusetts five-piece Bad Rabbits followed, who brought diversity with their post-R&B style. They surged on stage, oozing cool and slick as their groovy synchronised dance moves set the crowd alight. Dua Boakye’s spectacular falsetto and effervescent personality gets mosh-pits sparking all around the room, and people out of their seats. Their hints of soul and blues influence was a refreshing and engaging surprise that could only be described as genius. Using elements of well-known tracks to fuel crowd involvement was a clever tool to get the audience interacted, such as with an army style commando chant, “Put your hands up!”. Their endless natural passion and atmospheric creativity created a feel-good vibe that almost upstaged the headliners themselves. Given the choice of another hour with these guys, and you bet we would have accepted.
Don Broco erupt the room in an instance as they open with their recent single, ‘You Wanna Know’. With captivating and somewhat hypnotic light production, the crowd are bewitched by head banging riffs, as frontman Rob Damiani and co emit charisma through a strong 16-song set-list. Crowd favourites such as ‘Whole Truth’ and ‘Fancy Dress’ get the crowd bouncing, moshing and even backwards rolling through the crowd. Yes, you heard right. ‘Thug Workout’ breaks out into an insane display of brutality in the pits as the expected push-up squad take host on the floor, as well as a punchy scream from Rob. This, combined with other old school tracks from their early days pays tribute to how far this four-piece rock band have come. A re-worked version of ‘Hold On’ surprises, as if a guy on crutches crowd-surfing wasn’t surprising enough. Their everlasting energetic style, and ability to interact with the audience stays true throughout . It is no doubt that as the set closes with ‘Priorities’ that when these guys return with a new record, big things are coming their way. As Rob said, “We saved the best till last”.
8/10
Review by: Emma Younger
