The Darkness @ the Neptune, February 25th
Review & photos by Dagmar
The Darkness will be back, and I want some way to hold this brilliant band to the promise of return they made at Saturday evening’s show. They are working on new material after all, and new song “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us” is perfect Darkness. I hope as soon as it’s all recorded they get touring in the States again, but they can always return before then please. Their fans are hungry, and Seattle’s audience gobbled up the entire show with animated affection.
The audience, predominantly male, moshed and crowd surfed through the night. Even during some of the slower songs the crowd leaped up and down. It was quite a thing to see, and I don’t think the new venue the Neptune had experienced anything that wild before.
The Darkness‘ Justin Hawkins
What The Darkness do so well is Rock with a capital R. Their music is a celebration of a classic, beautiful sound. The songs are merry and immediately enjoyable. How much you enjoy The Darkness is probably going to come down to how much you like singer/guitarist Justin Hawkins’ singing style. Me? I love it. When the band came out and dominated us with “Black Shuck,” I was wowed by just how fantastic a voice Hawkins has. I recall these songs in particular, though doubtless someone will get a proper setlist up soon: “Get Your Hands off My Woman,” “Hazel Eyes,” “Stuck in a Rut,” “Friday Night,” “Growing on Me,” “One Way Ticket,” “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us,” “Can’t Believe It’s Not Love,” “She’s Just a Girl, Eddie” what could be the group’s pièce de résistance, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” and a cover of Radiohead’s “Street Spirit (Fade Out).” Every moment had absolute attention from the audience because The Darkness is an easy band to adore.
The Darkness
As a four-piece, Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain and Ed Graham are tightly connected. This might be down to two of the members being siblings, who can explain how some people gel? I appreciated how the Hawkins brothers balanced their guitar playing, giving each other space and time to display their skills. Justin Hawkins’ costume changes included an amazing stegosaurus like jumpsuit for the encore. An odd thing for me to focus on might have been Justin Hawkins’ tattoo of the city he’s from – Lowestoft – across his stomach, but you know what? It was just cool.
The Darkness
