Live Review: Don Broco - Outernet, London 12/10/2026
Don Broco at Outernet: big hooks, old rarities and a crowd that didn’t need phones.
Don Broco know exactly what they are: a band built on big, loud and catchy choruses. Nearly twenty years into their career, the Bedford four-piece took the Outernet stage on Monday night with nothing left to prove and played like they were having the time of their lives. The set was high-energy and cleverly balanced, mixing the newer material with the songs that first made their name, all delivered with the confidence of a band who have done this with enough experience. They didn’t open with a bang, instead, the guitarist walked out alone and started a solo, leaving the crowd hanging for a few moments before the rest of the band piled in one by one. It was a simple bit of theatre, but it worked. When everyone locked in and launched into “True Believer”, the room went up. Big riffs and a crowd already shouting every word back before the first chorus had properly landed.
The staging was very simple, the lights stuck mostly to red and white, pulsing along with the music and there were no gimmicks, no giant video walls and no overproduced visuals trying to distract from what was happening on stage. It put the focus only on the band and gave the night a sweaty, club-gig feel that was exactly what the band needed. In an era where so many live shows feel designed primarily for phone cameras, there was something genuinely enjoyable about watching a band trust their songs to carry the room.
Rob Damiani was in chatty and good-humoured between songs. He reminded everyone it had been a while since they played in London: their last show in the city was a promotional gig for the new album, Nightmare Tripping, at Circuit in Kingston back in March. He said London is one of the band’s favourite places to play and even if that kind of line can sound like a throwaway at plenty of gigs, it felt like a pretty genuine shout and the roar that came back suggested the feeling was very much mutual.
The setlist leaned on both old and new, “Somersault”, from the latest record, sat comfortably alongside the older material, proof that the new songs can hold their own next to the ones that built the band’s following. There was no sense of the newer tracks being tolerated while everyone waited for the hits, they were met with the same energy, the same singing and the same willingness to throw themselves around the pit.
Longtime fans got the biggest surprises. “Money Power Fame”, a deep cut from the band’s early days, hadn’t been played live in around five years and the cheer when it kicked in felt like the sound of a crowd that had quietly given up hope of ever hearing it again. Later came “What You Do to Me”, another oldie, which the band cheerfully admitted was seriously old. Hearing both live after so long was a reminder of how good the early material still is, rawer in places, maybe, but full of the same melodic instinct that has carried the band through two decades.
The song everyone seemed to be waiting for was “Gumshield”. Damiani told the crowd to open up a circle pit and the floor happily obliged. It was the loudest, most physical moment of the night and it showed the fans still have plenty of fight in them. There’s something quite special about watching a crowd that knows a band’s catalogue inside out respond to a cue like that without hesitation. No one needed convincing, the pit opened and the room became one chaotic, joyful mess.
What stood out most, though, was something that wasn’t happening. In a crowd aged roughly 18 to 35, you’d expect screens everywhere, phones held through every chorus, filming fragments that will probably never be watched again. But there were hardly any. People just sang, jumped and shoved their way around the pit and it was genuinely refreshing, surely saying a lot about how well Don Broco held a room. This wasn’t an audience documenting a night out, it was an audience actually having one.
My personal highlight was “Cellophane”, a song I love dearly, hearing it live was every bit as good as I’d hoped, delivered with the power and polish that make Don Broco such a dependable live band. It’s one of those tracks that could easily get lost in a set full of bigger, brasher moments, but instead it landed as one of the evening’s most affecting. Damiani’s voice carried it beautifully and the crowd gave it the kind of quiet but full throated attention that only comes when a song really means something to people.
Credit has to go to the two support acts too. Ando San and Unpeople both warmed up the room well, each bringing enough energy to get the early arrivals moving and set the tone for what was to come. They also got a heartfelt shoutout from the headliners, which felt deserved rather than obligatory, always a good sign of a bill that works.
The band came back for an encore of “T-Shirt Song”, a fan favourite that had the whole venue singing along and swinging shirts at full volume, then closed with “Hype Man”, sending everyone out into the London night buzzing and a little hoarse. It was the right ending: euphoric and exactly the sort of song that leaves you grinning on the walk to the tube.
It was Don Broco’s last London show of the year and a great way to finish. The next time the capital sees them, they’ll be opening for Nickelback on a world tour, which should be an interesting pairing and a real chance to win over a whole new audience. If Monday night was anything to go by, they’ll take to it easily.
Until then, this was a gig that showed why they’ve lasted so long. They played with real energy and warmth, dug deep into the back catalogue and let the songs do the work without any visual tricks. No gimmicks, just a band who clearly still love doing this and a crowd who clearly still love them for it. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to see Don Broco live, this was it.
Words by Giorgia Gambilare
Photography by Martina Liberini
