While 30 Seconds to Mars and Noah and The Whale were attracting some of the biggest crowds of the day on the main stages, it was the BBC introducing stage that offered rock fans with a more obscure taste, the chance to experience a rarer gem of a set. One of England’s most exciting upcoming bands, the peculiarly named Don Broco, had answered the call of the BBC to represent all things hardcore yet light hearted on this humble but well appreciated stage.
The BBC Introducing Stage is a great enough size to occupy a thousand or so fans with an intimate and up close and personal set. And for all those who don’t know, a bit of up close and personal partying is what this four piece from Bedford like to do best.
It was with charisma and unrelenting energy that front man Rob Damiani and co plunged straight in to fan favorite and most mosh-able track “Thug workout” and within seconds they have the place on its feet. The track’s tricky but pummeling riff has everyone in attendance in action and a big fat Don Broco circle pit emerges. The energy of this young audience is staggering, exactly what the band were asking for and you can see the appreciation for the havoc they have ignited on their over whelmed faces.
The band start to break the song down and as the action begins to settle, Rob Damiani calls for both sides of the pit to separate for a wall of death. The front man jumps the barrier and lands himself right in the middle of the pit where he can address both lines of excitable kids. “When this drops, I want everyone to run over here so we can have a proper party alright?!”. Sure enough, the two walls close in and its pandemonium that this meager stage has almost certainly never seen before. Rob is almost buried in the chaos but still we can make out his words among the dozens trying to get their voices heard through the mic alongside him.
Once safely back on stage, Rob ushers in the next track “On top of the world” and the band have another trick up their sleeves. They call for everyone in the crowd to get on top of each other’s shoulders and from the intimacy of this collective vibe, we can’t help but oblige. It’s quite a spectacle and from the bands perspective, it must have looked as if the front 5 rows had suddenly all learned how to levitate.
Their latest single “Beautiful Morning” goes down just as mush a treat as any other track, but with a chorus twice as memorable, it has crowd participation at a peak as we almost drown out the bands vocal harmonies with our own singing. And then another high speed hit in the form of “do what we do” has the 1000 strong throng in a mass of laddish gang vocals and more moshing. It’s all fun and games from this band. Light hearted heaviness that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but is tight and technical all the same.
To wrap up a stellar show the Bedford lads drop “Dream boy”, easily their most well-known track and without a doubt their raunchiest. It’s a hit amongst male and female contingencies in the audience and it solidifies any inkling that these guys are developing a knack for writing big choruses.
With a clever degree of crossover appeal between pop and hard energetic rock, Don Broco’s rise to popularity in the rock scene looks very foreseeable. For now though there are a few concerns. Rob Damiani’s voice is at times, strained sounding and he seems to need to steady himself to catch his breath due to the energy he expels from his on stage antics. The band do all they can to fill a stage but work may need to be done before they can start to conquer larger stages. Overall though this is nit-picking from what was a hugely entertaining set that has definitely been memorable highlight from the festival.
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The BBC Introducing Stage is a great enough size to occupy a thousand or so fans with an intimate and up close and personal set. And for all those who don’t know, a bit of up close and personal partying is what this four piece from Bedford like to do best.
