DON BROCO // OVO WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON
DON BROCO MAKE POP-ROCK PEACOCKING INTO A FULL SCALE OLYMPIC EVENT
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)
DON BROCO AT THE OVO WEMBLEY ARENA, LONDON
PHOTOCREDIT: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI
There are arena shows… and then there is whatever Don Broco just pulled off at the OVO Wembley Arena on Friday night. You could call it a flex, a victory lap or a large-scale experiment to see how many people can mosh in a circle simultaneously, jump at once or spin tshirts in the area for 3 minutes straight - the result was the same: loud and polished chaos wrapped in full on swagger. And despite me going from intimate sweatbox gigs straight into an arena, there is no denial that a massive room full of lasers and 12,000 people losing their mind is also deeply satisfying.
Magnolia Park opened the night like they were already the headliners. Despite missing half of their set in a queue outside in the rain (so there are no photos), Magnolia Park have been one of my top listens in the past few months. They are the genre blenders that nobody asked for, bringing a signature mix of pop, punk, trap beats, emo drama and general core energy. All the way from Florida, the band has been gliding through the scene creating a cult following for themselves - mainly consisting of chronically online people with good music taste. On stage they are dynamic, performing a short set with explosive tracks such as “Misfits”, “Shallow”, “Chasing Shadows” and finishing off with “Animal”, all of which delivered with punchy confidence (with a member even performing inside the pit). They were a bold and chaotic opener that woke the room up like a slap to the face.
Brighton’s finest Yonaka followed on with a tonal shift: they were darker, moodier and more emotional - without sacrificing any of the energy. Theresa Jarvis owned the stage with the kind of presence that suggests she could be leading a revolution. Their setlist was like a knife cutting through flesh; starting off with “PREDATOR”, and having the crowd in a trance through “Call Me A Saint”, “Hands Off My Money” and "Punch Bag”. The music and the vocals feel like simmering fury meets catharsis, full of emotion and energy that is honestly captivating. Finishing off their set with “Seize The Power”, they felt like the calm before the storm - if your perception of calm is ‘controlled explosion’.
Then came State Champs, who essentially turned Wembley into a pop-punk summer festival despite the fact that we are as close to the peak of winter as we can get. My second time seeing them in the same week, and no matter what size of venue they play in, they bring a decade-plus of high-velocity anthems behind them that command the space they are in - all bounce and zero downtime. Their setlist felt like a headline slot of its own, going from “Silver Cloud”, to “Outta My Head” to “Hell Of It”, ripping through songs such as “Act Like That” and “Clueless” with singalong moments that make you forget you’re in a giant venue. They are full of bounce, full of energy, and full of dynamism on stage, moving tirelessly and keeping the crowd on its toes. Finishing off their set with the holy trinity of State Champs tracks, aka “Elevated”, “Everybody But You” and “Secrets”, it felt like America is not the only country that gets Warped Tour, because the band brings that same spirit wherever they go.
Don Broco’s evolution has been a journey that started in the early 2010s with hard-rock earnestness, then gradually morphing into a swaggering and genre-blending monster full of absurdism, choreography and big riffs. The band has survived lineup change and the entire UK scene deciding to age out around them - yet here they are, headlining Wembley Arena, and sounding like a band that refuses to abide to only one genre, making music that sounds like you have accidentally drank three Monsters and a Jaeger bomb. They are ambitious and annoyingly good at what they do, and they have rightfully earned one of the top spots for being one of the most entertaining bands to watch live.
They hit the stage just after 9pm with a stage that was more a spectacle - lasers, lights, different levels and a waterfall of energy, they appeared almost god-like figures. And they wasted no energy in opening multiple pits simultaneously, reminding everyone they are ‘from Bedford’ and treating their audience to a setlist that was a feast for the ears. Starting off with their newest release “Cellophane” and a choreography moment that everyone waited for, the crowd was ferally singing since the first note. “Come Out to LA”, “Gumshield” (featuring moshpits) and “Euphoria” followed on, with ridiculous dynamism, pits all over the arena and people collectively losing their minds to every beat. Rob Damiani, one of the most charismatic frontmen in the scene, walked the stage with swagger and attitude, whilst the rest of the band - from drums, to keys, to guitars to bass provided the foundation that made the gig the audiovisual spectacle that it was. And as if this was not enough, their production was cinematic and over the top just enough to complement their musical chaos.
Don Broco do not do subtle, and this was evident in the crowd reaction. The audience was unhinged, with people jumping and crowdsurfing from the first note all the way to the end of the show. The setlist flew like a hurricane, with “Manchester Super Reds No.1 Fan” having Gumshield’s moshpits pale in existence, whilst their newest unreleased song “True Believers” followed by “Uber” were exactly what the crowd needed to release all the pent up energy of the week. The moshpits were chaotic but friendly, whilst the singalongs hit arena-roof-lifting levels. For a band that built their empire on equal amounts silliness and sincerity, it was genuinely impressive how many people showed up ready to go feral. Highlight of the night was also the performance of “You Wanna Know” acoustic and in the crowd, “Further” with Yonaka’s Theresa Jarvis joining on stage and the crazy energy that came with “Endorphins” and “Everybody”, having the right and the left sides of the crowd in a sing-off to show off who was the loudest in the room. Lastly, it would not really be a Don Broco concert if we didn’t get “The T-shirt Song” with 12,000 dangerously airborne shirts making Wembley look like a laundrette being hit by a tornado and Rob Damiani jumping into the crowd. In my opinion, that was iconic.
The band is everything you expect from a Wembley show - absurd and chaotic energy, executed with military precision. A stacked lineup, a huge production and a tight performance were all that was needed to create the signature Don Broco recipe for success, alongside some ridiculous moments that could not be missed to spice up the performance. If you walked out of Wembley with ringing ears, a suspiciously strong craving for energy drinks, and the sense that you’ve just participated in something equal parts ridiculous and unforgettable — congratulations. You’ve just been officially initiated into The Don Broco Experience.
REVIEW + PHOTOS BY: CHARIS LYDIA BAGIOKI
