DON BROCO AT AMOS' SOUTHEND IN CHARLOTTE
The crowd slowly filtered into Amos’ Southend Tuesday night, excited to see U.K. native rock band, Don Broco. I was surprised by the range of people drawn to the venue, from teen to middle aged, everyone came to rage. For their debut headline tour in the U.S. the guys had support in Charlotte from indie alternative band, Sleep On It and self proclaimed screamo band, Trash Boat. The commonality between all of the bands who performed was a genuine excitement and happiness to be there.
Amos’ might not be the largest venue but the concert goers were pressed up against the barricade and very enthusiastic with each opener that hit the stage. Sleep On it and Trash Boat did a great job at warming up the room and loosening up the crowd in preparation for Don Broco.
As the stage was reset for the headliner people lined the railing upstairs for a good view and those in the middle of the floor tried to find their window to see the stage. As soon as the lights went down, all eyes were on the stage and not a single person was focused on anything else. The guys of Don Broco took to the stage with frontman, Rob Damiani, greeting the crowd and getting straight into the music. Guitarist, Simon Delany was exploding with energy, performing spins, high kicks, and headbanging. I felt like if I looked away for one second I would miss some kind of action. Throughout the set Rob would instruct the crowd to split before moshing, and even encouraged circle pits that took up most of the floor space and involved a solid portion of the crowd. Everyone was more than willing to comply. It was as though we could feed off of their energy.
At one point towards the end a fan offered up his cowboy hat, which Rob took and wore during a couple songs. One of the funniest parts was when he paused, took it off, and asked to make sure he had put it on correctly. After they left the stage, the crowd chanted for an encore. Don Broco finished out the night with their new release “Action”, and “T-Shirt Song” in which the audience took their shirts off and circled them above their heads enthusiastically. Definitely check out this tour if you have the chance!