The Gigraphy Review - Don Broco, O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, 13/12/2023

Continuing on their massive 'Birthday Party' tour and bringing Ocean Grove and Trash Boat with them, modern rock kings Don Broco absolutely owned the stage of the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on Wednesday night. This was always going to be a mega show, but if you missed out don't worry - we had Josh at the event to both capture and review as it unfolded!

Ocean Grove

Leading the performances, Australian nu-metal outfit Ocean Grove stormed onto stage with some amazing energy and presence to their track Junkie$, very much starting the night as they meant to go on. Lead vocalist Dale Tanner was everything you could want from a frontman, with non-stop movements and a level of crowd interaction you'd expect from a band with higher billing.

They kept things fresh throughout the set, with Dale switching places with guitarist Twiggy Hunter for Neo and showcasing the variety of talent on offer from the group. Twiggy kept the energy at the same sky high levels when it was his turn on the mic too, jumping into the barrier pit to get right in there with the audience.

As we approached the end of the set, Ocean Grove really flexed their musical repetoire, slowing it down for Silver Lining and Ask for the Anthem in stark contrast to the constant trashing of the previous tracks. By this point the crowd were hooked, with hands in the air waving along to the melodic vocals as the band prepared to bow out. Ocean Grove were not just a great act to start the show with but a great act full stop, cementing themselves as yet another band in Australia's legacy of amazing alternative rock artists.

Trash Boat

Ocean Grove were followed by another act who knew how to make an entrace, that being the icons of the British alternative rock scene that are Trash Boat. The group came out swinging to their 2019 single Synthetic Sympathy, immediately demonstrating why they're one of the most popular bands on the circuit. Tobi Duncan's vocals were absolutely on point here, smashing both harsh and clean sections throughout the set seemingly at ease while dominating the stage.

Just before they kicked into their track Vertigo, Tobi told they crowd they don't have to mosh, they don't have to push or spinkick, but they do have to headbang - before he himself began to jump across the stage with energy unmatched. Bassist James Grayson was similarly active, with jumps, spins and flair abound as they carried on through Delusions of Grandeur, Liar Liar and Alpha Omega.

With the end of the set approach and the crowd well and truly filling up for the headline act, the group took the time to express the importance of inclusion and unity, a message that's spread by many but never not welcome. The whole crowd cheered in love and support, in a moment that brought them together as one, very much in the spirit of thie group's speech.

As they played the last track of the set, He's So Good, I couldn't help but have one small gripe - throughout their set, the crowd were not giving back anywhere near the level of energy that Trash Boat were putting out. I'd seen the band previously this year at Slam Dunk and they far and away had one of the best crowds of the festival, and while I was expecting constant crowdsurfers, hands being thrown in the air, and a moshpit or two, instead it was a much tamer affair. By no means was this the fault of Trash Boat, far from it, but it was definitely a shame to not see them get the amount of enthusiam they absolutely deserve.

Don Broco

Onto the much anticipated main event, the screams and cheers from the crowd as Don Broco took to the stage were deafening. From the moment the first beat of Gumshield kicked in the crowd was moving, and by their second track of Manchester Super Reds No.1 Fan the photo pit had nearly as many crowd surfers in it as it did photographers. Considering where this show was taking place it was always going to be a crowd favourite, and they went wild for it.

Lead guitarist Si Delaney was as energetic as ever, full of the spins and erratic movements fans of the band have come to expect over the years as they blasted through tracks like Come Out to LA and Pretty, two of many tracks to feature push pits, circle pits, and walls of death throughout the set (with vocalist Rob Damiani calling for most of them).

Speaking of Rob, it's hard to miss a new feature of his in my shots - a neck brace he's having to wear due to headbanging a bit too hard earlier in the tour. Despite this (and seemingly his doctor's orders), he still put on a stunning vocal performance and owned the stage, demonstrating his abilities as a frontman for all to see. His crowdwork skills were on show for the entire performance, from getting the two halves of the crowd competiting to see who can sing the chorus of Bruce Willis the loudest to expressing his love for the fans who are still singing back the words to tracks they haven't played in a long time like You Wanna Know.

While you'll rarely go to a show where the band doesn't say "this show is the best one so far", the way Rob spoke about Manchester made you believe them. Granted they do have a song with the city in the name, but every time love for the place was expressed it really felt sincere, and the crowd felt it too, which gave the performance that extra dimension of really feeling like something special. This continued into the section of the show that was the namesake of the tour, with the band calling out the birthdays of those in the crowd who had submitted it to them online prior to the show or even met them in a bar earlier in the day, emphasising the connection. between the band and their fans.

Closing out the main body of the set with their latest single Birthday Party and following it on with fan favourite Everybody, the demands for the encore from the crowd couldn't have been louder. The final moshpit to Fingernails felt like it took up a third of the venue, before closing with, of course, T-Shirt Song. As hundreds of shirts spun around in the air, it's difficult to find a crowd that comes together as much as this one did, with everyone caught up in the moment and belting the lyrics in unison. It really did feel like I'd witnessed one of the greatest performances of the band to date.

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