Don Broco 'Nightmare Tripping' Tour

Don Broco have built a reputation as one of the finest live bands this century, and Nightmare Tripping, their heaviest and most ambitious record to date, has only added fuel to that fire since its release earlier this year. Reaching number seven on the UK Albums Chart whilst topping the Rock & Metal chart for the fifth time in a row, it is undoubtedly one of their best to date and has more the transferred to the live setting. Last night saw the Nightmare Tripping tour roll into Cambridge Corn Exchange. If last year's Wembley Arena date showed what Don Broco look like at their most colossal, yesterday was a reminder of where they are at their chaotic, uncontrollable best.

The Corn Exchange was already vibrating with excitement before a single note had been played, particularly off the back of two stellar support slots from Ando San and Unpeople, but nothing quite prepared the room for the way the night began. A single spotlight illuminated an acoustic guitar, before Si Delaney walked out and began playing what felt tlike classic-inspired flamenco-esque solo that made the whole room hold its breath. For a brief moment it felt like a completely different evening. As the rest of the band began to make their way on stage the solo soon transitioned into the intro for set-opener 'True Believers'. The song exploded into full life and the Corn Exchange went from hushed anticipation to complete bedlam, with that chaos never once settling for the next ninety minutes.

So much of this energy is driven by Rob Damiani, who is one of the most magnetic frontmen in the business. The last time Don Broco played the Corn Exchange, Rob was pulling off some memorably stiff dad dancing moves from inside a neck brace, which in itself was a remarkable spectacle. Last night he was back in full Rob-stomping brilliance, directing moshes with complete authority over the whole crowd. But the brilliance of last night went far beyond stage presence and energy alone, because across seven times of seeing Don Broco this was the best they have ever sounded. Huge credit has to go to the sound team, because few bands can move between delicate instrumentation and utterly explosive noise quite the way Broco can, but last night every single song sounded absolutely immense throughout. Rob's vocals were flawless, whether navigating the emotional weight of 'One True Prince' or going full force on the tour and album title track 'Nightmare Tripping', supported brilliantly throughout by the vocals and powerhouse drumming of Matt Donnelly behind him. Si Delaney's guitar work and explosive energy is something you genuinely cannot take your eyes off, every riff landing with the force as he bounces his way across the stage with kicks so high they need to be seen to be believed. Tom Doyle's basslines cut through the mix with a thickness that forced heads to bang whether their owners intended it or not. The quartet of members are joined by touring member Pete Daynes who always brings an added layer of percussion and energy that completes the picture perfectly. From the second they took to the stage they were a band firing on all cylinders with not a single weak link in the chain.

The group blasted through eighteen songs in ninety minutes, and the fact that half of them came from Nightmare Tripping tells you everything about where the band are at right now. Every song from the new album was met with the same energy and singalong force as career-spanning favourites like 'Come Out to LA' and 'Everybody', which given the album has only been in the world for a matter of months is as impressive as anything that happened on stage last night. The heavier the band have become, the bigger the sound and the louder the crowd response.

One of the most beloved of the new songs is undeniably 'Cellophane'. The moment Rob opened his mouth on the first line he was showered in a wave of Mini Rolls, a tradition rooted in the fan joke that "have you got the minerals" sounds uncannily like the chocolate treat, which at this point has taken on a life entirely its own. Beyond the joke though, this song is genuinely extraordinary live. It's chaotic in the very best way, sparking one of the night's biggest pits in a set that offered no shortage of competition on that front. 'Cellophane' gave way to the anthemic grandeur of 'The Corner', which brought the main set to a close with a different kind of force entirely, the song's sweeping build filling the Corn Exchange beautifully before the trademark encore arrived. 'T-Shirt Song' in its customary spot sent a wave of spinning shirts around the room, before 'Hype Man' closed everything out in a final burst of brilliant noise that tore the roof off what was left of the night.

Don Broco are one of those bands who exist in a strange space, consistently selling out arenas and winning over every room they play, yet still feeling somehow underrated relative to the scale of what they do. They have spent years building something remarkable and Nightmare Tripping is the sound of a band who are not even close to done yet. If last night at Cambridge Corn Exchange is anything to go by, the best of Don Broco may still be ahead of them, which is an extraordinary thing to say about a band already this good.