Live Review: Don Broco - Koko, London 19/12/2023
For the final night of their 17-date UK ‘The Birthday Party’ tour, Don Broco descended on Camden for three nights of blessed debauchery — and, with injuries, late starts and surprise guests, Broco at Koko was every bit as chaotic as you’d want.
Don Broco have had one hell of a year. From Ally Pally to Australia, co-headlining Europe with Sleeping With Sirens to demolishing a North American tour, all ending with a 17-date UK tour celebrating a new single — 2023’s been kind to the Bedford boys. So, to celebrate such a climactic year, Don Broco at Koko was reborn — and we were lucky enough to be there on that final, fated night.
But, what’s a Birthday party without inviting a few friends?
First up, joining the lads on stage each night, came Melbourne trio Ocean Grove — having supported the afore-mentioned EU tour, and back in the UK after last year’s European headline tour and a one-off show at Camden Underworld back in March, Ocean Grove had already developed one hell of a following. Understandably so, as their hectic brand of nu metal saw Koko set ablaze — though not literally this time, thankfully. Between Dale Tanner leaping around the stage like a man possessed — falling somewhere between the snarling frontman of a metal band and a child let loose in a toy-store — and bassist Twiggy Hunter hyping the crowd up, singling out people to shoot them tongue-in-cheek death glares, and Sam Bassal’s unhinged drum soloes, Ocean Grove seemed closer to a force than a band, something that felt almost more like it needed to be weathered than enjoyed. Whether it was ‘Guys From The Gord’, dragging their brand of nu metal kicking and screaming into the realm of drum and bass, the anthemic, and ever-so-slightly insane ‘BORED’, or the fast-paced and flighty ‘NEO’, they were as good as they were overwhelming — which is to say, very.
Coming from almost as far were Trash Boat, from St. Albans. Having supported the likes of I PREVAIL and playing on the main stage at Slam Dunk earlier this year, Trash Boat have been everywhere — and for good reason.
Having proved his metal credentials with a story about Architects’ ‘Hollow Crown’ release show at Koko in 2010, frontman Tobi Duncan wasted no time in starting the night off right. And, as crowd surfers and moshers began to come alive, the group’s blend of pop, rock, and hardcore was perfect for the show; spreading across the room, suffused with venom, vitriol, and vitality, the venue came alive.
The new-found choir of the pit wasted no time in screaming along to the rage-filled setlist; ‘Silence Is Golden’, ‘Bad Entertainment’ and newly released single ‘Liar Liar’ all flew by, the latter’s nice indirect competition between the cities on the tour adding a nice impassioned challenge.
With the final announcement of a new album and first headline tour in a few years, there was one last song to come — though not before an impassioned speech about sexuality, surrounding the closer ‘He’s So Good’. And, although an unconventional phrasing: it couldn’t be more true: “I mean this in the most respectful and supportive way possible… I don’t give a shit. And I hope everyone can take the same blasé attitude.”
As always, Trash Boat were a hell of a lot of fun.
Don Broco’s set, meanwhile, felt like a rollercoaster of emotions. With the final night of The Birthday Party tour being billed as a Priorities-heavy celebration, the crowd was already expecting a night of both remembrance of their (studio) debut album, and a celebration of what’s to come — although hopefully not buying into ‘Manchester Super Reds…’ lyrics ‘liked the old stuff but the new stuff’s bad’. And, although the set ended up being largely unchanged from the rest of the tour, Tuesday did see a mish-mash of the other two; throughout the tour, the band had alternated between two setlists, each with a song or two from Priorities, and Tuesday was the only night to get all three. It meant losing one or two other setlist staples to make up the time, sure, but getting to hear ‘Actors’ or ‘Fancy Dress’ again after all these years — or even getting to see the iconic walk from ‘Priorities’ — was comfortably worth the trade off.
Elsewhere, Rob got distracted by a fan wearing a Bruce Willis mask before launching into… well, ‘Bruce Willis’; constant backdraft from a fan blowing into Matt Donnelly’s face left his hair streaming like a hero in the wind during ‘One True Prince’; Dan and Twiggy from Ocean Grove and Tobi from Trash Boat joined the band on stage for ‘ACTION’ — though unfortunately no surprise appearance from Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo, as Sunday had had — as Rob put on his Rizz-Lord glasses to make up for his neck brace; Ashton Charles from The Color 8 flew over for the show for the live UK debut of ‘The Birthday Party - Party In The USA Remix’, joining the band on stage; and, as a final bit of Koko mayhem, a costume change into white parkas during the encore precipitated a hilarious Christmas cover of East 17’s ‘Stay Another Day’. The crowd even got an acoustic ‘Yeah Man’ and the opener to fan-favourite ‘Thug Workout’ to boot!
Finally, like all good things must, the night had to come to an end. Yet, in typical Rob Damiani fashion, it couldn’t end ‘normally’. Ripping off his neck brace, claiming that the magic of Broco at Koko — come on guys, BroKoko was right there — had healed him, it was time for ‘Neck Brace Song’. Which was essentially ‘T-Shirt Song’, but with Rob having ventured around the stage, getting his band mates to sign his two-week old neck cast, and throwing it into the crowd in the chorus as possibly the grossest yet most unique piece of band memorabilia anyone could hope to get — even the other band mates were gagging at the smell and refusing to touch it when Rob was brandying it around.
With the promise that that would be the final show for a while, as the band began working on album number five, Don Broco Koko Show 3 was a triumph. Surprises and shocks intermingled with nostalgic throwbacks to create an unforgettable evening of pure joy. As fantastic as always.
Words by James O’Sullivan
