Another British favorite of Atlas finally made their way back across the pond for the first time in six years this week. Powerhouse rockers Nothing But Thieves brought their Welcome to the DCC Tour to an absolutely ecstatic crowd at Marquee Theatre as Arizona celebrated the band’s return.
Friends of the band Kid Kapichi took the stage first and absolutely blew the fans away from the start. The UK quartet takes heavy inspiration from punk rock and pours that energy into their hard-hitting set. Plenty of audience members were already familiar with the group and gave it their all to sing along to “5 Days On (2 Days Off)”, “Let’s Get to Work” and “Rob the Supermarket”. Nothing But Thieves guitarist Dominic Craik even joined the band for a song- a special moment on the final night of this run. The band is the epitome of cool- something you can only say when the singer successfully pulls off wearing sunglasses indoors at night.
The States haven’t seen Nothing But Thieves since pre-pandemic times and the anticipation for their return to the stage was palpable in the tightly pressed theater. The band emerged from the darkness into dramatic lighting and artful shadows to welcome everyone to Dead Club City at the top of their lungs. The band has released three albums since their last visit and they pulled heavily from these projects that never saw a proper touring cycle.
2020’s Moral Panic had plenty of time to shine after being buried under the weight of the pandemic and tracks like “Unperson” and “Impossible” hit the audience right in the heart after such a long time away. Throughout the set, balloons floated atop the crowd and the fans did their best to drown out singer Conor Mason’s roof-shattering vocals.
Unfortunately, the night was not without a dose of drama as several fans turned the pit into a brawl, stopping the set at two points to a visibly livid band. The rest of the audience closed the gaps so things could continue without violence, channeling that negative energy into a fiercer performance from NBT.
The fans love the band’s newer music, but some of the loudest cheers came when NBT threw in tracks from Broken Machine- including the title track and a show-stopping performance of “Sorry”. As it was the last night of tour, there may have been expectations of weariness from the band, but they gave just as much intensity to their set as we’d expect from the very first night. With so many fans singing along to every song, the whole group couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces and encouraged everyone to continue being involved in the show.
The balloons found their purpose for the closing number of “Pop the Balloon” before ear splitting cheers brought the band back onstage for an encore. As soon as Mason said we were going to “Amsterdam”, the night took on a wild frenzy we hadn’t seen yet- it’s more fun than ever to jump in the pit for a song that continues to blast the doors off of venues. NBT ended this North American run with a heartfelt performance of “Overcome” and, after such a life-changing night, we hope that they won’t stay away from the States so long next time.
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Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
