LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: DON BROCO AT HERE AT OUTERNET, LONDON 12/10/26
There is something inherently sacred about a mid-sized venue sweating at capacity. Forget the distant blare of arena tours for a second, London got up close and personal, and profoundly bruised on a Monday night at Here at Outernet, courtesy of a triple-threat lineup.
If you weren't in the room, consider this your official FOMO warning, as Don Broco brought the moves, the grooves and the sweat to the London stop of their Nightmare Tripping tour.
Kicking things off, LA born and bred Ando San brought effortless swagger early, with his infusion of introspective hip-hop and progressive metal which went down a treat.
Dropping heavy RATM-adjacent energy right out of the gate, these folks are officially on a roll. Fresh off a shiny new signing to Sumerian Records and teasing an upcoming album, Ando San proved he is more than ready for the spotlight.
With a massive shoutout to Don Broco for hosting and a triumphant tease of their very first, nearly sold-out UK headline show on the horizon a couple of days later, Ando San were kicking it right off the hinges.
If Ando San warmed up the room, unpeople brought pure chaos and carnage, in true unpeople fashion. If you’re unfamiliar with the quartet, they absolutely feel like the next big thing. They’ve built a reputation for walking a genre tightrope with terrifying ease - famously dubbed the lightest band at Bloodstock and the heaviest band at Kendal Calling, looking completely at home crushing both.
Demanding early on that the crowd “keep the energy up,” frontman Jake Crawford commands were treated accordingly. Mosh pits were erupting early with "a few unpeople in the middle, on the sides, and everywhere else."
Mid-set, a temperature check after the track ‘smother’ confirmed what everyone already knew: the crowd was dangerously close to being the best of the entire tour.
Deafening cheers greeted the mention of their recently released debut album before sliding into ‘friends’, but the undisputed peak was watching guitarist Luke Caley casually take a trip into the pit, perched on someone’s shoulders during ‘the garden’, an usual sight for the OGs but always a pure delight for the newcomers. No words, just pure, unadulterated chaos. Thank you all so much, indeed.
When Don Broco stepped up with ‘True Believers’ moments later, the room immediately - and unsurprisingly - transformed into a vortex of high energy and flying bodies. Broco shows are notorious for having the friendliest, most absurdly active pits in modern rock and this show was no exception.
More circle pits unfolded during ‘Gumshields’, whilst ‘Everybody’ led to synchronized bouncing from the London crowd, who was utterly relentless.
It’s hard to believe they hadn't played these rooms in five to six years, especially looking around at the OGs in the crowd flashing back to the Priorities (2012) era. Cue frontman Rob Damiani serenading a lucky fan sitting high on shoulders during ‘What Do You Do To Me’ while the rest of us questioned our own life choices.
While Damiani strutted the stage with effortless, cheeky swagger (and his notorious stomps), drummer Matt Donnelly offered perfect back-up vocals while the rest of the band - bassist Simon Delaney and guitarist Tom Doyle - locked into the groove, grinning through the madness unfolding before their eyes.
Taking a breather to praise the supports as literally "our favourite new groups in the fucking world right now," the tone shifted just enough to remind everyone why music matters. Introducing ‘Bruce Willis’ from Amazing Things, a passionate plea rang out: speaking out against injustice is more important than ever in a world that’s gone completely nuts, and everyone needed to make their voices heard.
Naturally, the response to that call to action was to demand the biggest mosh pit of the tour right on ‘Cellophane’. Things simmered down just a brief notch for ‘The Corner’, briefly interrupted by a quick pause to check on an injured fan, before roaring back with a vengeance for the iconic ‘T-Shirt Song’. Unsurprisingly, shirts were off and swinging, and London was collectively living its best life.
Of course, Damiani couldn't let us off that easy. Stopping the final pit because it "wasn't good enough," he rallied the troops for one last push: “I said it was the last song, anything you got left, anything left in the tank, open it up.”
And open it up, we did.
As the lights finally came up and the ringing in our ears settled in, the parting words echoed the sentiment of the entire room: “We were Don Broco, have a great rest of the night, of the week, of the year. We love you.”
Trust us, DB - the feeling is entirely mutual.
Words by Florelle Servageon.
Photos by Imogen Bird.
