Don Broco

Don Broco are arguably one of the most spoken about new bands of 2013 and after a hectic year of touring the band returned to Cardiff in order to perform at a sold out Great Hall.

Since releasing Priorities last year, Don Broco’s popularity has rocketed and has seen the band progressively take a rise to bigger stages across the country, it’s telling that the last time Broco found themselves in the Welsh capital was to perform in the much smaller confines of Cardiff’s intimate Clwb Ifor Bach that sold out moments after tickets first went on sale.

Kicking off the off show is Bad Rabbits who rapidly grasp the audience’s attention with a variation of synchronised dance moves and complete disco vibes that get the audience engaged throughout the entire set. The band throw out a unified groove that’s utterly Jazz infused with tracks such as ’We Can Roll’ and ‘Can’t Fool Me’ that really demonstrated what this Boston based quintuplet can produce. Bad Rabbits are a breath of fresh air and definitely caught the audience off guard with their fun and crowd encouraging performance, which is completely different to the normal array of support bands that are normally seen touring with artists. The main problem Bad Rabbits bring to the table is the consistent threat that Don Broco can be upstaged on this tour.

When the lights go down, the crowd are ecstatic as Don Broco burst onto the stage performing newest release ‘What you Know’ starting a deafening sing-along amongst the audience. The band are at the top of their game: confident, energetic and clearly loving it as they waste no time taking the show into full swing, smashing out track after track from debut album ‘Priorities’. Frontman Rob Damiani does an excellent job getting the rowdy Cardiff crowd involved throughout, as the Great Hall is constantly jumping through the whole set which also sees a never ending stream of crowd surfers propelling over the barriers for securities delight.

Highlights include ‘Whole Truth’, ‘Back in the Day’ and classic older track ‘I’m good’ that cause Broco’s older fans to lead the younger audience off the crowd. Damiani’s distinctive deep soothing tones are on form and the whole band’s stage presence is undeniably electric. It wouldn’t be a Don Broco show without the typical moshpit’s and Push Up’s that come along with the crowd pleasing and carnage starting ‘Thug Workout’ that cause five minutes of circle pit antics.

After leaving the stage for a brief encore, the band returned to an ear-splitting reaction and performed a uniquely slowed down version of ‘Hold On’ before kicking into the real deal. After thanking the audience for being the best audience of the tour so far, Don Broco concluded with the crowd erupting ‘Priorities’ (complete with ‘the walk’), ending the night on a fantastic high!

Since the release of Priorities it’s clear that the Broco boys have really perfected their craft and put on a show worthy of arenas this evening. The screaming audience of infatuated females and copycat lads is a testament to the cultural sway that their ladcore has at the current moment.