We got down to Motorpoint Arena to catch some massive guitar rock from Don Broco...
Arguably one of the biggest guitar bands in Europe - definitely in the UK - Don Broco have spent the best part of a decade building up one of the most loyal fanbases in the industry, and based on the fact that they’re currently playing an arena tour, it shows.
Having released their latest album Technology last year, this tour is kind of a greatest hits of that record, sprinkled with fan favourites from the previous albums, and even a cheeky throwback to the very first tune they wrote together as a band.
Oh yeah, let’s just take a minute to digest the arena thing. ARENA. Did they work it? Heck yeah. Broco songs have always sounded BIG - but on the mega arena PA, and backed by the insane production of lighting and staging they’ve brought with them, this show was just as much a treat for the eyes as it was the ears.
Kicking off with smash hit Come to L.A, the band bosh through mad energy songs left, right and centre, and how the bloody hell vocalist Rob managed to do all that whilst wearing a puffer jacket…no one knows. Impressive tbh.
We could definitely notice a few crowd members looking confused at times - and we were a tad unsure why, and then a dude dressed as a cowboy entered the crowd with a camera crew behind him - before the band announced that they were filming the video for their latest single Half Man, Half God tonight, and everyone here was going to feature in it.
And I kid you not - everyone got to essentially be an extra, but with a role. I mean towards the end, they literally got the cowboy to crowd surf all the way from the front to the back. And then back to the stage again. Brave cowboy that. Oh, and they chucked him in the middle of the biggest circle pit I’ve ever seen. Again #respectthecowboy.
After slowing down a tad for Further, the classic ballad which has you wanting to hug your mate whilst pretending you can sing, they go straight back into the bangers, firing through Automatic, Priorities, You Wanna Know and more. Both new fans, and the OG’s would be very chuffed with this setlist.
Plus plenty of shoutouts for Notts too. With two of the band members having gone to uni here, they dedicate many parts of the set to Ocean, Rock City, and everything in between. Even counting their first ever gig at Junktion 7 (RIP), and stating "Nottingham pretty much made Don Broco”. And we haven’t even mentioned the supports - Issues and Neck Deep - two humongous bands in their own genre who absolutely bossed it.
So all in all - without sounding like a grandad - if you’re into ‘guitar music’, or just very well put together shows, this is an excellent excuse to get out in miserable February. Just maybe don’t stand in the circle pit.
Don Broco played Motorpoint Arena on Friday 8 February 2019.
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