Concert Review: Don Broco

By Nicole Wolf
Photojournalist

I am a huge fan of the band Don Broco, an English rock/post-hardcore band from Bedford, England. So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard they would be opening for Our Last Night on their Selective Hearing tour. The closest date on the tour that came close to San Marcos was San Antonio, so I made a Spotify of music from all bands performing and jammed out while I made the one-hour drive to the Alamo City Music Hall. When I arrived at the venue, there was a little trouble with getting my photo pass, but the women working the will-call booth were extremely helpful in figuring out the miscommunication. Eventually the problem was resolved, and I received my photo pass and ticket entry into the venue.

Jule Vera, an indie-pop band from Auburn, Alabama, came onto stage first. Not a lot of people cheered, which I took to mean that not that many people knew who they were or were fans of their music. During their second song, “100,000 Hours,” the lead singer, Ansley Newman, started strumming a ukulele. The crowd got enthusiastic for the ukulele, probably because not too many artists play a ukulele on stage. Jule Vera’s set was short, sweet, and the perfect way to start off the show.

Don Broco was the second band to play, opening with “Everybody” which amped the crowd up for the rest of their setlist. For each song they performed that had a beat drop, every band member and the whole crowd jumped in unison. Their heavy guitar riffs and drumming really showcased their post-hardcore style, making for an electric performance. My favorite part of their set was during their last song, “Money Power Fame.” The lead singer, Rob Damiani, yelled for the crowd to make a wall of death. If you aren’t already familiar, a wall of death is when the crowd divides into half and then each side charges at the other during the heaviest part of the song. Getting caught in the middle of a wall of death when you don’t want to be can be pretty dangerous, but if you like to mosh at concerts, they can be one of the most exhilarating concert experiences.

I was not familiar at all with the next band performing. I the Mighty, a rock band from San Francisco, California, has been around since 2007, but I had never listened to them. They began playing “Lady of Death” and I knew I was going to enjoy their set. Brent Walsh’s vocals went from smooth, silky singing one second to rough, gravelly screaming the next. The entire set was energetic and was successful at pumping up the crowd for the headlining band.

The patiently-awaited headlining band Our Last Night took the stage performing “Broken Lives.” One out of the two lead singers, Trevor Wentworth, was the most energetic member on stage. Trevor would run across the stage and lean into the crowd as far as he could without falling in. The other lead singer, Matt Wentworth, also plays guitar so he was a little more restricted, but he still held high energy levels. Matt is more of the singer while Trevor is the screamer in the band. To give you an idea about the energy level of this band, they told the crowd they were going to slow things down by playing “Tongue Tied,” which some people would consider a fast song, but to them it’s a slow song. They immediately followed with “Ivory Tower,” which is arguably their most intense song. Our Last Night performed their hearts out in an explosive, spirited setlist. I had such a great time seeing all the bands perform and I highly recommend checking all of them out.