In 2015, pop-rock was taking over mainstream rock radio with acts like Twenty One Pilots and Walk the Moon. Both of these acts were among a multitude of bands that incorporated catchy dance beats, lower tempos but ultimately, nothing that was taking a lot of risk.
The still waters in this genre of music made it a great time for British band Don Broco to break into the American rock market and make waves.
The beat to “Superlove,” their summer single that year, was infectious. It opened with an acoustic guitar riff, had high and low register vocals and carried a funk-like bassline into the chorus. For a fanbase that had grown accustomed to somewhat formulaic rock music, it was the nuance the scene was longing for.
Don Broco, a quartet from Bedford, England, have made a lot of headway in the modern rock scene since their inception in 2008. Getting their touring start at large music festivals like Slam Dunk Festival, followed by opening for popular alternative bands like You Me At Six and The Used, the band cemented their name in the United Kingdom. By 2013, only six months after the release of their first studio album “Priorities,” they had garnered enough attention to pack venues on their first headlining tour of the UK. Their upward trajectory since then has made waves all over the world in the alternative rock space.
Fast-forwarding through numerous full-length releases, a coveted spot on (what was supposed to be) the final Warped Tour in 2018 and a steady cycle of touring, Don Broco arrived to a packed house at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on January 31.
Embarking on their third North American headlining tour, the band made their way back to the States after two years away.
In my experience, the alternative rock community at one point had subgroups of people that never wanted a band to change their sound. Luckily, Don Broco came along when I felt this mindset start to shift, and people began embracing nuance again.
With the great power of being the headliner in charge of the tour, comes the great responsibility of choosing supporting acts, and Don Broco stacked the Los Angeles date with a lineup that measured up to their own mosaic of sound.
First on the bill was sace6, a melodic post-hardcore duo hailing from Long Island, New York. sace6, who are on their own meteoric rise after recently signing with Sumerian Records and scoring opening spots with Orange County legends Dayseeker, opened the night to an ecstatic crowd. Halfway through their six-song set was “ego,” their label debut single that had been released days before. The crowd received the band with roaring applause.
Second up was Dropout Kings, a decade-old band blending nu-metal and rap. Headed up by William “Black Cat Bill” Lauderdale and Rob Sebastian on vocals, the band brought a new aura into the venue as fans could be seen nodding along to rap portions and mosh-pitting to the sound of heavier screams. Lauderdale, who took over lead vocals for founding member Adam Ramey following his death last year, kept the crowd entertained by utilizing the entire stage like a Broadway actor, running back and forth as he performed.
Finally, Don Broco took the stage to an eruption of yelling and applause, moving from the low octave of the guitar and vocals in “Cellophane” to the high energy “Pretty,” before addressing the crowd for the first time.
Lead vocalist Rob Damiani flashed a bright grin to the crowd and thanked the fans for coming out, expressing his gratitude for the fanbase that has grown away from the band’s hometown, before going into the song that all Angeleno Don Broco fans were waiting for: “Come Out to LA.”
Though the band wrote the song in 2018 as a satirical dig at the smoke and mirrors promised by some Hollywood record label executives, fans of the band that call Los Angeles home effectively turned it into an anthemic love-letter back to the band as they sang every word.
A third of a way into the set, Damiani began to lose his voice, citing that the 23-date tour was coming to an end and it was starting to wear on him. Without missing a beat, drummer Matt Donnelly stepped up for his bandmate, leading the crowd into a booming sing-along of “Disappear.” Donnelly has a consistent role as a secondary vocalist for the band, making it particularly impressive when a high-energy drummer is also utilizing the diaphragm in such a powerful way during a live performance.
Damiani took a few more beats throughout the setlist for some calls-to-action. One was to thank revered producer Dan Lancaster before performing two songs released under their new label Hopeless Records. The other was to remind the crowd that we are living in a time where it is “more important than ever to stand up for others,” before going into “Uber,” an upbeat song with an underlying message of pushback against a prejudiced society.
The night ended with a sea of t-shirts being rallied in the air, an unspoken but automatic response to “T-Shirt Song,” which closed out the set. Akin to bands with iconic symbology like 3OH3!, the rally gave a nod to a band that has earned genuine admiration from a crowd that cannot wait for the next go-round.
