It could go without saying that a gig with Don Broco, Trash Boat, and Ocean Grove will be one hell of a shindig, but there’s a surprising reason they need a good party.
The new single by Don Broco, Birthday Party, is quite a confession. It’s one thing to record a song about no-one turning up to your birthday. It’s quite another to admit that it’s a true story!
Vocalist Rob Damiani explained: “Birthdays can be the absolute worst. You get all hyped up for what you think is a guaranteed top day, but when that doesn’t work out you can’t help but feel EXTRA bad. I don’t really like birthdays because of this, but one year tried throwing a last min shindig and in classic form it was not well attended, haha. I can’t say I took it well but my only option was having a party for one and this song is the story of that night.”
Don Broco are Damiani, Simon Delaney (guitar), Tom Doyle (bass and programming), and Matt Donnelly (drums and vocals). They formed in Bedford in 2008 and they’ve released four albums since 2012. Their most recent record, Amazing Things, released in 2021 reached number 1 in the UK album charts.
Now they’re back with a comprehensive tour of intimate UK venues and a remixed version of Birthday Party.
Don Broco Birthday Party (Party in the U.S.A. remix) video
The original Don Broco Birthday Party single really gave a sense of solitary ennui. The remix smashes that because now Damiani has plenty of new friends to go to his parties. The updated version features Don Broco’s current North American tourmates The Home Team, Ryan Oakes, Skyler Acord, and The Color 8
It’s one of those rare remixes that, arguably, improves upon the original. The soundscape is more intricate with high-speed raps and gang vocals.
Meanwhile, being left alone at your own party is reclaimed as more of a positive experience: “I don’t give a fuck/I’ma still turn up…if nobody else coming it’s more weed for me, so fuck you.”
Don Broco Birthday Party Tour Dates
Don Broco have played the main stage of Reading and Leeds Festival and headlined at Alexandra Palace and Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena. Therefore, fans were surprised but stoked to see that the Don Broco Birthday Party tour takes in comparatively intimate venues. Trash Boat and Ocean Grove will be joining the party as support bands.
Damiani said: “We’re buzzing to be heading out on The Birthday Party Tour in November and December, hitting up some of our favourite spots in the UK that we haven’t been to in a little while and some future faves we’ve never been to before! Broco at KOKO the first time around was a huge night for us and can’t wait to be back for round 2!”
If you want your own Don Broco birthday party, get a ticket for one of the shows on the day of your birthday and you’ll be eligible for a meet and greet before the show. Keep an eye on the band’s website and socials for details.
29 November, 2023: Hexagon, Reading
30 November, 2023: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend
1 December, 2023: Dreamland, Margate
2 December, 2023: UEA, Norwich
4 December, 2023: O2 Academy, Bristol [SOLD OUT]
5 December, 2023: Dome, Brighton
7 December, 2023: O2 Academy, Sheffield
8 December, 2023: Corn Exchange, Cambridge
9 December, 2023: O2 Academy, Leicester [SOLD OUT]
11 December, 2023: Barbican, York
12 December, 2023: O2 City Hall, Newcastle
13 December, 2023: O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
15 December, 2023: KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
16 December, 2023: O2 Academy, Bournemouth
17 December, 2023: KOKO, London [SOLD OUT]
18 December, 2023: KOKO, London [SOLD OUT]
19 December, 2023: KOKO, London [EXTRA DATE ADDED DUE TO DEMAND)
Don Broco Birthday Party original video
The original video is a bizarre fantasy of a children’s birthday at a psychedelic, lo-fi rendition of The Simpsons‘ house. Various childhood icons transport in: Pingu, Shrek, Spongebob Squarepants, Scooby Doo and Shaggy, Ronald McDonald, Mr Blobby, and The Simpsons themselves – to name just a few.
There’s something off, though. Something hallucinatory and uncanny valley about it all. There are distinctly un-PG happenings in the bathroom, and you don’t want to know what Wallace and Gromit are getting up to in the bedroom. The delusional daydream has an explosive ending, neon cake everywhere.
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