Get your fancy dress on and your balloons blown up because The Birthday Party Tour is here. I’m up in Newcastle tonight for THE party of the year. We’re talking Ocean Grove, Trash Boat and of course, the party hosts, Don Broco. Costumes at the ready and cake for afters, let’s dive into it.
First up on the stage are Aussie nu-metal monsters, Ocean Grove. Straight off the bat, the energy was insane. I’ve been following these guys on Instagram since about 2019 and it’s safe to say they have absolutely excelled in the nu-metal scene. Kicking it off with Junkie$, the crowd went ballistic. I love these guys. With all their albums being certified bangers, this set was going to be perfect to open the night and indeed it was. Superstar, Bored, Guys From the Gord and Sunny were just some of the tunes played tonight whilst the crowd bounced so hard the floor was shaking. Each member of the band is easily a force to be reckoned with. Sam (drummer) is an absolute monster on the kit, it was a pleasure to be able to see the lads play at such a big venue. Excellent start to the night.
The good vibes carried on when second support hit the stage. British punk rockers Trash Boat are here to show you why they are the most increasingly popular band right now. I’ve been lucky enough to see these guys once before earlier this year and they were good then but my god they were even better now.
Tobi Duncan (vocalist) has just an exceptional stage presence. I mean, I could watch this guy all day. The way he commands the stage and the crowd is purely admirable. They dived into their set Synthetic Sympathy soon followed by Silence Is Golden and Vertigo. Again, the crowd loved them. We even had some pits going and we can’t forget the crowd surfers. It felt almost euphoric for Trash Boat’s set, they really do have this air about them where you want to bottle it up and keep it for the rainy days.
On the setlist tonight, we had a very recently released song, Liar Liar. Duncan was sure that the crowd wouldn’t know the words but we definitely proved him wrong. It was the loudest song of the night, easy. Finishing up with He’s So Good, the fans were left wanting more and luckily, an announcement was made. Trash Boat are gonna be doing a headline tour next year! Yep. And you heard it here first. They’re gonna drop some releases and head out on their first tour in quite a while so be prepared because you’re not gonna wanna miss this. Trash Boat 2024, let’s go!
It’s now time for the moment everyone here has been waiting for, ready to shut this night done, the one and only, Don Broco.
Gumshield was first on the bill tonight and it popped off. The mosh pits soon began to form as an astonishing light show lit up the room. Frontman, Rob Damiani is quite simply, an icon. If you don’t know his name, you know his face. This man is recognizable even with a neck brace on. Yes. A neck brace. The poor man explained to the crowd how he’d just recently done his neck in and well, had to wear the forbidden scarf. (It didn’t look anything like a scarf, it was in fact, very noticeable but let’s just say that to make Rob feel better). Even though his movement was restricted, this didn’t stop him from showing off his moves, dancing his way through the set.
Let’s not forget the rest of the band who all equally matched his energy, especially Simon Delaney (guitarist) who not only could jump higher than my head x100 but who could also spin kick and play all at the same time. Crazy. With a seventeen-song-long set, each one hyping the crowd up more and more. We had Pretty, Come out to LA, One True Prince and of course, Birthday Party. In the audience, you could spot people with actual party hats on, balloons, face paint, costumes, it was awesome. The most creative gig I’ve been to yet.
With the fans still going strong and bodies flying over the barrier, it wasn’t long before my favourite song began blasting over the speakers; Everybody. As it insinuates in the title, it was clearly everybody’s favourite. The room erupted, you could probably hear the crowd singing for miles. It lived up to my expectations and more. How could this night get better but with the perfect encore; Fingernails and T-Shirt Song. I think it’s safe to say, not one fan left disappointed (or without being extremely sweaty).
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