“This song,” reckons Rob Damani “was written about some tough times. It’s a reminder about the power of music, nothing else can make you just take your t-shirt off and whip it around your head.”
And as if by magic, hundreds of people do just that.
It’s sold out in here tonight, 2000 strong, and singer Damani has issued his decree in the last song “T-Shirt Song”, that might be the culmination but it’s more an indicator of the vibe throughout.
Don Broco have been doing this a decade now, they’ve come from The Slade Rooms (a small, now defunct, venue up the road) to this – via a number one album – and if you want to study why, look at the damn near hysteria as they play this 90 minutes.
Right from “Gumshield” to “…..Song” if this is The Birthday Tour then dammit everyone is invited to the party.
What you call what they do, is harder to put your finger on. “Manchester Super Reds Number One Fan” is original, it sounds like everything, yet nothing, but they’ve always had that, as “Fancy Dress” from the debut underlines clearly.
Drummer Matt Donnelly’s vocals are an integral part of it along with Damani’s quasi-rap delivery, and both combine brilliantly on “Bruce Willis”.
He works the crowd with a skill does the frontman (even with his neckbrace as he’s done himself an injury headbanging) and the funky “Superlove”, the band favourite “One True Prince” plus the pure pop of “You Wanna Know” are all obvious highlights, which the crowd reaction would tell you anyway.
“ACTION” sees them joined by the support bands and there’s clearly a wonderful camaraderie amongst them all, “Yeah Man” is done acoustically with Simon Delaney stripping it all back if only to re-energise for the close.
You know that second gear that arena rock bands find for the last lap? Don Broco does it too. ‘Revenge Body” is huge, “Endorphins” raucous, and they can still find the time to crowd surf a Caterpillar Cake to a lady in the audience before “Birthday” – it was still intact when she walked past MV at the end, we can confirm.
“Everybody” involved everyone, as it were, to close the set, before “Fingernails” and the partial nudity we started with.
There was one moment when Damani got booed. No, really. When he said the band were going away for a while. Only to record a new album, though, and I’m willing to wager right now that when they return there’s not an arena big enough.
This show was an arena one in all but name anyway.
