DON BROCO + + TRASH BOAT + OCEAN GROVE – BRIGHTON DOME 5.12.23
British rockers Don Broco formed in Bedford back in 2008 and consists of Rob Damiani (lead vocals), Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle (bass and programming) and Matt Donnelly (drums, lead and backing vocals). The band have released four studio albums, including ‘Priorities’ (2012), ‘Automatic’ (2015) and ‘Technology’ (2018). Their most recent album ‘Amazing Things’ (2021) was their first to reach No.1 in the UK Album Charts. Their latest single dropped on 15th September and is titled ‘Birthday Party’ and thus their 15-date ‘Birthday Party Tour’ is currently underway with Brighton being date six.
I arrive a little before showtime and find Brighton Dome to be embarrassingly empty. This is rather a shame as openers Ocean Grove from northern Australia are certainly worth seeing. They are very clearly trying to be Rage Against The Machine. Touring guitarist Andy Szetho is no Tom Morello (who is?) but overall they’re not far off. They certainly have the tunes. ‘Cali Sun’ is a particularly good song, although I’m not altogether sure why an Aussie band is singing about California. Then again, why not? The only black mark against them is that they have one song where everything apart from the vocals and drums is on the backing track. Everything else is hunky dory though.
Next up are Trash Boat from St Albans. They’re a ‘proper’ guitar band and are much rockier. There’s a definite rap/rock influence though. Vocalist Tobi Duncan says that we will bang our “f*ckin’ heads”. He’s not wrong! There’s some nice lead guitar from Ryan Hyslop, it’s tasteful and not too flashy. However, he doesn’t seem to have that many opportunities to show off his skills. A guitarist like that should be made more use of. ‘Bad Entertainment’ is about the media, and how much rubbish is on the airwaves.
They have a song where vocalist Tobi gets the crowd to spell out the word “p*ssing”. He’s obviously heard how radical and rebellious East Sussex is! ‘Alpha Omega’ is about anyone who is a “f*cking idiot”. Frankly this borders on being puerile. ‘Don’t You Feel Amazing’ is the title track of Trash Boat’s latest album. They need to realise that there’s a difference between sounding angry and having a spoilt musical tantrum. This falls in the latter category unfortunately. It does have an ace guitar solo courtesy of Ryan Hyslop however. There is a lot to like here. They might want to work a little on their lyrics though.
Trash Boat setlist:
‘Synthetic Sympathy’
‘Silence Is Golden’
‘Vertigo’
‘Bad Entertainment’
‘Delusions Of Grandeur’
‘Liar Liar’
‘Alpha Omega’
‘Don’t You Feel Amazing’
‘He’s So Good’
Soon it’s time for headliners Don Broco. The crowd is still disappointingly sparse however. The downstairs standing area is about three-quarters full, but all of the seating areas are quite empty, especially so in the balcony. I hope that with the lights the band won’t see that. The crowd here would have easily fitted into the Concorde 2. However, it doesn’t really matter, as throughout the band approach the gig as if they’re headlining Wembley Stadium.
They open with ‘Gumshield’ from their most recent album ‘Amazing Things’, which came out in 2021. The live production is very slick. There are no rough edges, which is rather unfortunate, because I suspect that beneath the sheen of their buffed-up sound, there’s a half decent rock band trying to escape. Be that as it may, the band have the crowd eating out of their hands. Vocalist Rob Damiani demands a mosh pit, and one appears. I wonder how far he could take this. If he demanded a Lamborghini would one roll up outside the venue courtesy of some rich fan’s parents?
This is a key thing to note about Don Broco, they trade in pop-rock that attracts a young audience. They don’t want to change the world. They just want to write and play some nice tunes for their audience to enjoy. I have to say that they’re very successful in this regard. From the off the kids go batsh*t crazy. They’re not afraid to mix and match genres. ‘Come Out To LA’ is very much r’n’b flavoured, although it does feature a very good guitar solo courtesy of Simon Delaney. ‘Actors’ from their first album ‘Priorities’ is far rockier. Some people (record companies in particular) might accuse them of lacking identity, but that’s purely because it could be perceived as making them difficult to sell. Personally I think it makes them a more interesting band.
They play ‘Yeah Man’, another song from first album ‘Priorities’, with Rob Diamani singing and Simon Delaney on acoustic guitar. It’s very well received. Apparently it’s the first time that it’s been played live since 2017. Don Broco are clearly a band who attract no mean amount of devotion from their fans. The people who like them, really like them. However, from what I’ve heard tonight, their songs don’t really say anything. Their lyrics are very “moon, june” and are about as meaningful as anything by McFly. However, they do have good tunes which are well played and are danceable. The kids love it. Like I said, Don Broco don’t want to change the world…..
Don Broco setlist:
1. ‘Gumshield’
2. ‘Manchester Super Reds No.1 Fan’
3. ‘ACTION’
4. ‘Come Out To LA’
5. ‘Actors’
6. ‘Pretty’
7. ‘Superlove’
8. ‘One True Prince’
9. ‘Bruce Willis’
10. ‘Priorities’
11. ‘Yeah Man’
12. ‘Revenge Body’
13. ‘Endorphins’
14. ‘Birthday Party’
15. ‘Everybody’
(encore)
16. ‘Fingernails’
17. ‘T-Shirt Song’
