Back in a previous life I was a sound engineer bouncing all over Scotland, finding out how hard it was to support a Lucky Strike habit and keep my Toyota Corolla on the road simultaneously. One night – it must have been about 5000 years ago – I worked with my touring band in the tiny room that was Capitol as they opened for a band called Don Broco.
I’d never heard of them, but they were already causing a stir in the alt rock scene with fans soon wall to wall in the miniscule sweatbox. Since then, their rise has been as explosive as their sound. Being a main stage – and even headlining – attraction at all of the most respected festivals.
Now, a lifetime later, we’re at the Barrowlands to see what the fuss is about. They’re certainly expecting trouble as the show photographers are warned they may not get all of the first three songs if there’s too much moshing.
The show is opened by last minute locals Plasticine who have hit the jackpot being able to get their feet on one of the most prestigious stages in Scotland with less than 400 Facebook followers.
All of their gigs to date have been at entry level venues to entry level crowds. This could be the big break they’re looking for. Their sound is indie with big sounding drums and bottom end with very accomplished female vocals with a familiar tone that I just can’t place my finger on.
You’d think these guys had been on stages like this before. Who else would be brave enough to cover the Wonka classic ‘Pure Imagination’ in front of a rapidly filling Barrowlands? If you must listen to one song to get the jist, I’d go for ‘Deep End’. If you must listen to one song to really enjoy, I’d go for ‘On My Own’.
Tonight’s support is Kid Kapatchi – authentic post-punk with the modern, unrelenting chugging rhythm that’s all the rage right now. It feels lazy to say, but imagine the Arctic Monkeys grew up a lot angrier and spent a lot more nights in cells. That’s this band.
Lead singer Jack Wilson is tethered to the mic stand, but bassist Eddie Lewis and Guitarist Ben Beetham make up for it in terms of movement. Stand-out song ‘New England’ sees the band ditch the guitars for filthy synths and samples along with rap from Bob Vylan (who you totally have to check out by the way!).
Kid Kapatchi are like Kasabian’s little brothers who are more political and, in all honesty, better and more entertaining to watch.
My first experience of Don Broco was big chunky riffs, vocals that have both edge and tone, and a stage presence worthy of much bigger spaces.
The stage presence has remained, but the sound has evolved to include synths, samples and lyricism with a flow more familiar to hip hop. I’ve tried and tried, and I cannot pin a genre on this. It’s rock, it’s nu metal, it’s hip hop, it’s alternative… Dissecting this show is like working out what ingredients have gone into a mysterious soup. You’re getting flavours of a bunch of different things that you can name, but when they’re blended like this – it’s just soup.
That’s not an insult to the band… there’s some incredible soups out there! Being at this show is like being in the multiverse. Circle pits to synth heavy anthems, nu metal bangers from yesteryear layers of genres over layers of genres.
Where most people may duck out of such a show because they’re not into most of the sounds on offer from Don Broco, the crowd here are a niche. Appreciating every ingredient in this musical soup and asking, nay demanding, seconds. Singer Rob Damiani urging the crowd to make the most of the sprung dancefloor and they’re only too happy to oblige.
The circle pit turns briefly into a badminton court as racquets and shuttlecocks are pulled out to make for a truly bizarre break in the proceedings.
It remains to be seen as to whether Don Broco will ever get to fill bigger rooms in Scotland, but another question is… do they want to? Everyone seemed perfectly at home tonight, and who wants to break up a happy home?
Photos by Catching Light Photography