Don Broco/Cavaliers

Sound Circus, Bournemouth

In the last five years, Don Broco have quite frankly transformed from being just your everyday lads, desperate to half fill a toilet circuit venue, to arguably one of the best British bands around. Way back in the day (see what I did there?) the Bedford born bulldogs played to literally a handful of people at the dingy iBar down the road, but tonight, they sell out the slightly larger (but just as murky) Sound Circus as a mere warm up for Reading and Leeds Festival.

Opening affairs before the utterly ridiculous prospect of Don Broco at such an intimate venue are Cavaliers, an indie outfit who offer a sprightly start to the night through their undeniable quality. Their recent success is well deserved, but unfortunately their sound’s severe lack of originality will ultimately be the deciding factor as to whether they can reach the heights of the likes of their blatant influences (Two Door Cinema Club, Bombay Bicycle Club, etc). If this talented bunch can rework their sound to maintain the presence of their indie idols, but break away from normality, then I could seriously see this band dwarfing the majority in their genre.

Expectedly, as Don Broco emerge onto a slightly smaller stage than they’re used to, Sound Circus is overflowing with excitement and strangely the band start with acoustic anthem “Yeah Man”, allowing front man Rob Damiani to stun us with his pitch perfect vocal quality. In a typical Broco fashion, the next song happened to be their heaviest, and ‘Thug Workout’ suited their surroundings down to a tee. In all honesty, it was an evening laden with endless quality and despite the fact that this band have spent the majority of 2014 on the biggest stages in the UK, they seemed completely modest and quite at home in such an intimate setting. It just goes to show that regardless of the venue, if you’re a quality band, it shouldn’t matter.

Our fair seaside town were even treated to only the second outing of brand new song “Money Power Fame”, which followed with the news that the band will be entering the studio to record the follow up to their stunning debut album in the near future. Just when you thought that this was the good news, the title track of their first full length “Priorities” somehow managed to sound just as enormous here as on the bigger stages. After smashing through previous singles “Fancy Dress”, “Hold On’ and “Actors”, it was fitting to close the evening with their latest single “You Wanna Know”, which greeted the end of evening with an unholy climax.

It goes without saying that Don Broco have something truly special about them. Their huge appeal, staggering quality and desire to perform (regardless of the location) makes them unmissable. The sky is the limit for their sophomore record, so let’s pray that they seize upon their momentum and top their emphatic debut.

Don Broco Set list
Yeah Man
Thug Workout
Whole Truth
Money Power Fame
Priorities
Fancy Dress
Hold On
Let’s Go Back To School
Actors
You Wanna Know

Links
http://www.donbroco.com/

Words by George Fullerton.
Photo by Ed Smith.