More about: Don Broco

Don Broco, orchestrated, at the Royal Albert Hall was a special one. In aid of Teenage Cancer Trust they played a set truly worthy of such an important cause. With this being the first TCT show in two years, Don Broco had a standard to set or in the words of host Sophie K “Let’s show them how a bunch of greebos do it!”. And boy did they show the Royal Albert Hall how to do it. 

The orchestra are playing the band in one by one as they take to the stage in their own time. Eventually frontman Rob Damiani joins and all of a sudden the orchestra halt their playing for Don Broco to chime in and commence their set with ‘Come Out to LA’. Suddenly the stage is flooded by light where I can see Broco and the orchestra in tandem, and Damiani’s dad dance moves start up in full force. 

But once again the crowd plunges into darkness to gaze upon Damiani’s silhouette addressing the whole venue, it quickly sinks in that a packed out Royal Albert Hall has just sung ‘Come Out to LA’ - what kind of fever dream is this? The fans quickly get what they want though, we hear that fuzzy guitar backed by cutting and urgent violins to introduce ‘Everybody’ and everybody in the stalls already knows what’s about to happen in that arena below, a circle pit fitting for RAH. As the drop for the bridge comes in, the orchestra adds a level of grandeur appropriate for the breakdown as the fans below collide with one another. 

Damiani acknowledges and encourages everyone to donate if they can to the cause, before shockingly noticing his mother in a box above which causes the crowds wholesome cheer. ‘Nerve’ feels very special in this setting, with an additional choir joining in the madness they gave the highpoint vocals more substance, the room felt even fuller then. As if we’re sitting in some sort of sonic magnetic field. There’s a lump in my throat come the time for the band to play ‘One True Prince’, a song that is so massive and one that has a level of brilliance to it anyway, but that orchestra adds something spectacular to the mix and completely changes how you hear it. Induced into a reflective state during a song that pulls your emotions from deep within up to surface level, you’re comforted by Damiani’s roaring ‘It’s Okay!’. 

It feels like only a moment has passed witnessing something so special and precious, but already we’re at the end with Don Broco bowing out with the usual ‘T-Shirt Song’, they expect nothing less than hundreds of black and white t-shirts spinning at breakneck speeds like the blades on a helicopter. In fact, these t-shirts have formed a sort of roof above the crowd's heads. Don Broco were glorious at the Royal Albert Hall, their songs are built for a live setting but with all the added support from the choir and orchestra, the people there witnessed something that they might never get to see again. 

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More about: Don Broco