After spending the majority of the last year playing intimate sized shows following the release of new album ‘Amazing Things’, Don Broco are taking things to the next level and embarking on a UK arena tour to give the album the full show it deserves. They bring with them none other than Papa Roach, making it safe to say it’s going to be a night to remember for those in attendance at the Utilita Birmingham tonight.
Papa Roach are a band I’ve seen many times over the years, I’ve seen them four times at Birmingham’s O2 Academy alone and they’ve blown me away every time, so I’m very intrigued to see how the step up to arena goes, even if they are only just supporting. I’ve got to admire Don Broco for bringing them along because they are a tough act to follow, Jacoby Shaddix is one of the best front men around these days in my opinion. The set list is a good mix of songs old and new, with ‘Getting Away with Murder’ & ‘Dead Cell’ popping up early for people who have been fans of the band since the early days.
he songs come thick and fast, Don Broco crowds have a reputation for being high energy
and it’s good to see them give the same treatment to Papa Roach. One of the highlights of their set is when they slow things down a bit though, with hit ‘Scars’, which has everyone belting out the lyrics at the top of their lungs. We’re also treated to a couple of covers, one being the Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ which goes down very well and also Dr Dre’s ‘Still Dre’, which Jaocby raps the lyrics of ‘Infest’ over.
Now that the crowd have been warmed up, it’s Don Broco’s turn to get them bouncing as they come out to ‘Bruce Willis’ to get things started. As you’d expect from a Broco show it’s all guns blazing right from the very beginning. Guitarist Si Delaney is bolting round the stage delivering his signature high kicks – it wouldn’t be a Don Broco show without them.
‘Come out To LA’ and ‘Pretty’ have become huge staples in the set in recent years and tonight its easy to see why judging from the reaction. Frontman Rob Damaini also dedicates the former song to his ‘Nonna’ who is in the crowd this evening, I’ve seen Don Broco many times over the years and she always gets a special mention at the Birmingham shows as she lives locally.
During ‘Manchester Super Reds’ they bring Jacoby out to get in on the action, the two frontmen going at it together is a sight to behold, it’s hard to keep up with them! Then things are slowed all the way down with personal favourite of mine ‘Nerve’ which is the final song of the main set. They come back out for an encore which icludes ‘Fingernails’ and then finally ‘T-Shirt Song’ which has most of the venue spinning their t-shirts over their heads, much like Skindreds ‘Newport helicopter’, I’ll never get bored of seeing it.
Don Broco for a long time have seemed like one of the UK’s most exciting up and coming bands but it now seems like they have outgrown that label and are enjoying their time as one of the big boys. A fantastic show from them tonight!
