DON BROCO / NECK DEEP / ISSUES | LIVE REVIEW
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Tue 5 Feb
The year started strong for arena shows. Current metalcore dominators Architects and Parkway Drive smashed sets within weeks of one another, pop idols The 1975 sold out their January show within days, and physics posterboy Professor Brian Cox announced extra dates for his Adventures In Space And Time tour later in the year. And then there’s Don Broco [above]: the odd duck in a line-up of eagles, a little fish in a 7,500 capacity pond.
To clarify, there is nothing wrong with Don Broco. They’re a talented band with an impressive three-album back catalogue of abrasive, metal-tinged grooves and a charming, Bedford-boy-made-good schtick. Their recent videos are slick, and funny as hell, while 2018 album Technology even made the Top 10. But are they an arena-level band yet? Probably not.
It made sense, then, for them to bring Neck Deep [above] along for the ride. The Wrexham quartet have built a solid teenage fanbase by pumping out songs that sound like they belong on a 2003 Drive-Thru Records compilation CD, proving once again that pop-punk will never die. They give it their all, scissor-jumping through vaguely political and often poignant hits from recent album The Peace And The Panic; bittersweet singalong In Bloom is a particular highlight. A peppy improvement, certainly, on opening band Issues [below]. Ever been so bored by a song that you forget all about it while it’s still being played?
By the time the headliners crack on at 9.30, those in the modestly-sized crowd who had clearly only come to see Neck Deep have already dribbled into the night. A foolish decision on their part, because Don Broco defied all expectations (well, mine) and pulled a colossal set out of the bag. Opening with Come Out To LA, a tongue-in-cheek ‘fuck you’ to the major label they were previously signed to, the foursome rolled into an album-perfect recital of their biggest-hitting tracks from the past seven years. The pumping party-funk of recent singles Pretty and Everybody filled the arena, even if the crowd didn’t, and frontman Rob Damiani dance-thrashed his way across the stage like Mick Jagger at an acid house night. That’s even better than it sounds.
They didn’t scrimp on the stage show, either. What Don Broco lack in big-stage experience, they more than made up for in enthusiasm and creativity. A large-screen live video was cleverly presented through a series of goofy, Snapchat-esque filters and overlays. Blaring LED lights added weight to the disco-punk atmosphere and the band’s recently-adopted mascot, a galloping cowboy with a creepily vacant smile, popped up every few songs for a line dance.
The party raged right through to the encore. Closing with a combination of new single Half Man, Half God and the rifftastic T-Shirt Song, Don Broco showed that they’re more than capable of pulling off a headline arena slot. Now they just need the crowds to back them up.
words BETTI HUNTER photos AMY FARRER