Live Review: Teenage Cancer Trust / Don Broco - Royal Albert Hall 21/03/2022
“Hello and welcome to Teenage Cancer Trust, here at the Royal Albert Hall!”
Those words greeted us as we took our seats ready for a unique, one-off show with Don Broco and Deaf Havana, at an incredible show to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust.
Deaf Havana, after a revamp and triumphant return to our stages and ears as just a core two piece, burst on stage with new single Going Clear. Both Don Broco and Deaf Havana came up the ranks together — sharing a stage here, sharing a bill there — so having them both together felt like the beginning of something special. Which it very much was, as it turns out.
But first, the set. Considering the foursome of musicians were in front of and dwarfed by a litany of music stands and other orchestral accoutrement, they did an admirable job of making the prestigious venue their own, if only for half an hour or so. Going Clear, the first taste of their new album The Present Is A Foreign Land, only had its live debut a month ago at an intimate outing in Lafayette — seeing it tonight was just a taste of what was to come.
Their next song acted as the trigger (hehe) for the crowd to come alive, as ol’ reliable fan favourite Trigger rocked the stage, before the emotive Worship began to wash over the devout crowd of the vast and hallowed Hall.
The heavier Fever was up next - guitarist (and one half of the core duo) Matthew Veck-Gilodi, got into this one especially. Spending most of the track hidden behind a mop of unruly black hair, the guy couldn’t stop moving as he flew across the stage and truly made the most of such a unique night.
The flip into Evil, a nicely slow and emotive one, brought the pace back down here. James Veck-Gilodi, the other half of the duo — if the shared surname didn’t tip you off — has a fantastic voice, and it’s in these slow, ballad-esque ones that that truly comes to the fore. Yet the emotions here also seemed to remind everyone of the point of the night - to support Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity brought into existence in 1990 that exists to support children and young people aged primarily between 13-24 with cancer and making sure that whatever happens, they’re not alone.
A long instrumental bridge slowly ramped up to a resounding roar that faded into the stunned crowd, before they quickly launched into Hell, another track from 2018’s RITUALS. James’s voice seemed like it had taken a little while to warm up going through the set, but on both these two tracks and 2013’s Caro Padre which followed, it had obviously found what it was looking for. Hell especially seems almost just a vehicle to demonstrate his range!
Finally, Sinners. Introduced by the mostly-instrumental Wake both on album and here, Sinner, a slice of upbeat ear-worm pop rock that introduced us to the semi-conceptual album framed around religious motifs, was the first taste from RITUALS. It’s got synth, it’s got an easy-to-remember chorus - its a track basically tailor made for crowds to sing along to. It’s just a shame that Deaf Havana didn’t have access to the choir from later on, with the track on record featuring the London Contemporary Voices Choir!
A brilliant set from a brilliant band back on the up and up!
During the break, the orchestra all began to sneak into their l’il podiums and prepare themselves before Sophie K, the compère for the night, took the stage to introduce a Teenage Cancer Trust mini documentary to detail the work that they do day in, day out and illustrate just what the night was about. The crowd grew silent as we watched the short video exploring the lives of a typical family - four children and their parents - and showing just how quickly lives can be turned upside down. Sore legs, dismissed as growing pains, became leukaemia. What started as a typical, upbeat family quickly turned to tears.
A transition halfway through into a ‘two years later’ video diary generated a passionate slew of applause and cheers, and showed just how big an impact Teenage Cancer Trust have on both physical and mental well-being - and if that didn’t get people to donate, nothing would.
Speaking of, if you would like to donate the relevant information can be found here: https://www.teenagecancertrust.org/get-involved/other-ways-donate/text-donate-terms-and-conditions
A final reveal, that Ellie was in the audience, was just wholesome icing on the cake.
Finally, onto the boys from Bedford. Played on by the Charity Symphony Orchestra, each of the four took to the stage to resounding cheers from the thousands-strong throng of zealots waiting in eager excitement, and this was simply from a few waves, some picture perfect smiles, and some ever-present Damiani poses. The escalation when Matt first started crooning the opening to Come Out to LA was another matter, and it rose further still when the strings and co broke into furious sound at the beat drop. This also served as the scene for the week’s first mosh pit, though certainly not the last — proven by the very next song, Pretty.
Despite the now-iconic audio tape not being played — “Bedford, where’s Bedford? Come on” — Pretty is still very archetypal Broco, and that’s before adding in a handful of fans dressed up in bloodied smart clothes as per the Pretty music video, which saw a host of murders and skin-mask-wearing at a wedding. The addition of some piercing trumpets, as if signifying a violent, lawless stand off had been about to unfold, as well as what seemed to be a gong, felt just like another day in the Don Broco office. It’s hard to truly make something seem insane when that’s just generally how your live shows come across anyway!
The third track here was the first song that felt like tonight was needed to do it justice. Swimwear Season, from the recently released and chart topping Amazing Things, is wonderfully, absurdly chaotic on album. Its building soundscape, from even the opening seconds, begged to be played live; it has had a few tremendous live outings since the album came out, and they came out great, but tonight really let it shine. There was the orchestra, which gave the whole thing a sense of bubbling tension, a small bit of ever-present dissonant dread. There was the crowd, who as much as anything had had the extra two months or so to learn all the lyrics and sing along. Finally, there was just the general acoustics of the Albert Hall, which just let everything really build and come together, particularly in the choruses. Plus, the song on record has violins - it felt right to see the live version have them too, even if only as a one off.
As the final notes here tapered off into silence, it wasn’t long before the bass riffs of Everybody broke in to fill the void. An ever-present highlight of Broco gigs everywhere, it has everything you could want: an anthemic chorus, shouted commands to jump, a prominent smattering of cowbell, and now apparently a string section. No cowboy though, which felt like a missed opportunity after the 2019 tours!
Like the tracks preceding, this reimagining was incredible, though it was nothing on what came next.
What came next, in this instance, was Further. With Rob inviting Andy and Amy from the choir (later concisely named as the ‘Don Broco Royal Albert Hall Teenage Cancer Trust Invitational Choir’) on-stage a little early, the song was immediately, irreversibly elevated. Both this and Nerve, which came later, were lifted from 2015’s Automatic and stood out proudly as two of the highlights of the set. Further, not having been played as a full band for about six years (bar an appearance at the rearranged gigs last week), was simply incredible. Having already had the acoustic version in the repertoire, it was already perfectly poised to be adapted for extra harmonies and beautiful orchestral soundscapes. It was vindicating, it was triumphant: it was magnificent. And that doesn’t even begin to do it justice.
The shift here into two rockier ones again dragged the energy levels kicking and screaming back to the top, as the band kicked off with Technology; which, at first, seemed like an interesting choice for the context. A great song, sure, but not one that seemed a natural choice for an orchestra.
Turns out that that worry was unfounded, as it gave the whole thing a boundless new depth.
Following on came the acerbic, almost misanthropic Uber, with the band detailing the vitriol they felt when confronted by a racist taxi driver prior to the pandemic. Here, the orchestra shaped the song almost as much as they simply helped to make Si’s head banging and Rob’s inimitable dancing pop.
Back to the immersion of Automatic, then, with the afore mentioned Nerve. As well as the wonder we’d already begun to grow accustomed to, Nerve saw the introduction of the full choir: eight friends of the band, there to fully affirm what was likely a once in a lifetime gig. With beams of light cascading from the heavens, or at least from above the stage, every second of the song felt magical.
As did Easter Sunday, another Amazing Things fan favourite that finally seemed to get a proper airing. The harmonies here were beautifully, heart wrenchingly discordant, the chorus painfully honest, as the band broke into a much-requested, almost-difficult-to-listen-to song about losing loved ones over the pandemic.
The transition back into absurdity with Gumshield, here, provided a nice respite as the band began to gear up towards their finishing tunes. Gumshield seemed, again, to be a strange choice to adapt. Until, of course, the choir kicked in in the chorus and a giant circle pit started. Then it made total sense.
Penultimate song One True Prince seemed to have been the catalyst for the whole night. One of the band’s professed favourites from the album — a roiling, Deftones-esque stunner — the band got the opportunity to record it live with an orchestra at Abbey Road. Thanks to the Teenage Cancer Trust, they got to do it again. Unsurprisingly, even the released orchestra version didn’t do it justice compared to live, especially as it was played to some 5,000 people.
Finally, after being booed by the crowd for saying that it would likely be their last UK show — also featuring a cheeky joke about their residency in Kingston at Banquet Records, which undoubtedly played a massive part in generating the record sales for their number one album — there was one song left.
Surprising no one, that came in the form of T-Shirt Song. The piano, strings and choir blended perfectly with the laundry helicopters being tossed and strewn around the concert hall, to give the night a perfect end - plus, how many chances have you got to say you were half naked in as prestigious a location as the Royal Albert Hall?
Everything came perfectly together for Don Broco-and-co, and it was a privilege and honour to watch and review a beloved band, steadily climbing the ranks into the rock music elite, have such a well deserved and unique performance. Especially for such a good cause.
Just a shame they didn’t grace the place with the Push Up Squad!
Words by James O’Sullivan
Photo credit - Jordan Hughes (Provided by Outside Organisation)
