In a month devoid of consistent concerts, Don Broco took full advantage of the winter gap and packed Arizona’s Nile Theater from the stage to the doors last week. Their North American tour sold out the iconic Mesa venue alongside Dropout Kings and Sace6 and it was a night of high energy, stage diving and plenty of moshing in the glare of Broco’s LED wall.
Sace6 opened the night, bringing melodic metalcore to a room that did their homework on the openers. Vocalist Sace showed off his range, backed by the screams of producer and guitarist Noah Thomas. The early crowd was already pressed close to the stage to sing along, cheering for the project’s unreleased songs and sending them off in a shower of applause to kick off some positive energy for the evening.
Beloved local group Dropout Kings hit the well-worn stage of the Nile like a tornado as their hometown fans loudly welcomed them back. Their eclectic mix of rap and rock meant their performance had plenty of bounce to go with the chugging guitar and crashing symbols on songs like “First Day Out” and “Going Rogue”. Members of Don Broco were spotted hyping up the band from sidestage and that sentiment was returned tenfold by the band and their devoted fans. They closed their set by working up a sweat to “GlitchGang” and surrendering the stage to the night’s highly anticipated headliner.
Bedford rockers Don Broco are no strangers to the Nile Theater, having headlined the room multiple times in years past. Thursday night had a special electricity in the air as the band took the stage- whether from the sold out, sweaty crowd, the wall of blinding lights setting the room ablaze with color or the ear to ear grins on the faces Rob Damiani, Tom Doye, Matt Donnelly and Simon Delaney. While the band encouraged the moshing and crowd surfing, the audience remained respectful- allowing space for everyone to throw their bodies into the show while still being mindful of safety and the overall experience.
The result was a Broco show that had everything the fans could ask for- Damiani spent the set at the very edge of the stage, Delaney performed spectacular spins and kicks while not missing a single note, Doyle was all smiles as he held down the bassline and Donnelly’s tradeoff vocals with Damiani drew huge cheers. The band has been teasing their latest album for months and added every currently released track to the setlist among the fan favorites. Heavyweight opener “Cellophane” set the tone for exactly what the band expected from the show and Mesa surpassed their expectations, with Damiani calling it the best show of the tour so far.
There’s no doubt about it- Don Broco is one of the most eccentric bands in the current rock space, finding new ways to craft lyrics and off the wall sounds while still imparting important messages on songs like “Uber” and “Pretty”. The middle of the set slowed things down just marginally on “One True Prince” (arguably one of the strongest songs in their discography) before revving up the headbanging chaos on “Manchester Super Reds No.1 Fan”.
Broco pitted the two halves of the room against each other on the cheeky “Bruce Willis” right into the shredfest that is “Fingernails”. Naturally the set closed with the classics- ending on “Everybody” and returning for a swinging encore of “T-Shirt Song” and the brand new banger “Hype Man”. With their winter tour performing at this level, Don Broco really crossed the pond to let everyone know that 2026 is their year and they’re taking no prisoners. Sweat-soaked fans piled into the alley after the show, ears ringing and smiles plastered on their faces with the band’s promise to return ramping up the excitement for what’s to come.
