Review by Laurie Whitecloud

Well it’s been a really long 8 years since The Darkness has played live here in the U.S. I’ve already planned on a Southwestern state road trip to hit some gigs when my friend Dori – who went with me to see the boys off on the Rally to Hell – offers to buy me a ticket to New York (the ticket, not the plane fare) since I bought her ticket to Phoenix! I’m all over that like hot syrup on pancakes. Let’s rock!

Dori has made a fashionable new catsuit for the occasion. On the train ride over to the gig, I tell her she should tweet her pic of herself in it to Justin and ask for a retweet. So we giggle and she sends the tweet to Justin, and almost immediately there’s a retweet posted. Sweet!

We found our friend Brandi, another diehard TD fan, and are walking around the block when all of a sudden Brandi goes “There’s Frankie!” – a lo and behold, there was the Frankster! So we manage to catch him to ask for pics and signage for my badass beaded Darkness medallion, which he asks if I made and I said yes. He remembered a pic that Brandi had made him 8 years ago, and that made her night! He also complimented Dori’s catsuit and then he really had to get inside – he was late! Then, we chat up Sky from Foxy Shazam for a little bit and try to help him locate somewhere to eat in the area. Then we meet some other friends in line in front of Irving Plaza and wait for doors to open.

It was the longest wait ever! We had a nice chat with Michelle, aka Flaming Priest from the former Flaming Priest TD website, and her friend Melissa, and of course Mistress Boo and Dre and their friends were there. FINALLY, doors open at a little past 8 and we’re off to the barrier! It ends up just being me, Brandi and Dori parked on Dan’s side of the stage, and everyone else has taken off to stake out their places.
Well, Crown Jewel Defense tried their best to win over the tough New York crowd but some people in the balcony were chanting “No more songs!”, which was unfortunate. The lead singer just shrugged it off and said just one more song, then Foxy Shazam would be on. I like CJD, but I think most of the people were just anxious for TD.

Foxy Shazam was next. I was curious to see which songs from their new album “The Church of Rock n Roll” would be played, and how the crowd would react to THEM if they didn’t like CJD. But my boys Foxy ended up rocking the house and won over some new fans. Songs that were new were Holy Touch, The Temple and I Like It. They also played The Only Way to My Heart is With An Axe, Oh Lord, Rocketeer, and Killin It. Eric also managed to do his famous lit cigarette-eating routine, which was sorely missed by me in London. Awesome show, guys!

Tick tock, tick tock! It’s like David Lee Roth in Hot for Teacher “Aw man, the clock is sloooooow!” The waiting is the hardest part, as the great philosopher Tom Petty once said. We’ve been treated to a screen with different videos and images on it in between sets, but now the guys behind me are chanting “Raise the shit!” (meaning the video screen!) and we’re now singing very loudly along to Just What I Needed by the Cars, the The Boys Are Back In Town. The excitement is palpable! Then the sweet sounds of Arrival are finally heard. I’m doing the arm wave to this as is customary in the UK, but my countrymen need to learn this move!

AND THEN THERE THEY ARE!!! Dan, Frankie, Ed and Justin! THE DARKNESS IN THE USA, FINALLY, AGAIN! Sorry for all the caps, but it needs to be screamed. The crowd goes apeshit and Justin just stands there, cool as fuck with the Darkness sunglasses from the Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Video shielding his eyes from all the adoration and he’s wearing his brand-spanking-new catsuit with stars and stripes. Captain America ain’t got nothing on him!
They rip in Black Shuck and they have the crowd eating out of their hands for the rest of the gig. The new tunes are really stellar and I can’t wait for the new album! Video can be had at You Tube, but I think the songs besides NGSU and Out of This World are She’s Just A Girl and Everybody Have a Good Time. I know all diehard TD devotees know that most of PTL was played, and OWT and Is It Just Me from OWT, but the biggest surprise was the addition of Physical Sex to the setlist! I have an affinity for that song as it is my favorite B-side and of course, touchyfeelywoman is my screen name at Darklings. I was happy!

Random observations: Dan was extremely bouncy at the gig. Not just his hair, but he was literally jumping up and down at the gig. They all were really happy! Some people in the crowd started chanting for Justin to “Take it off! Take it off!”, so of course he had to take off his vest! I had to leave the 2nd row near the end of the set because it got way too hot and the idiot next to me wouldn’t stop crowding me. Long story short, I managed to get back inside after IBIATCL and Bareback, then stayed near the edge of the crowd for Justin’s walkabout during LOTRWNI. He came right in front of me and so I touched his elbow. Very proper, me! lol! Then he jumped onto a platform right beneath the balcony and continued to solo, the very place where some drunk chick had crawled up and jumped into the crowd earlier. This crowd was nuts! Body surfing was everywhere. When Justin commented how loud Boston was, the New York crowd had to out-loud them lol! 😛

It was an epic evening. I didn’t hear one bad word about the gig. We wanted to hang around afterwards to try to say hi to the band, but Dori and I had to catch the last train back to New Jersey and Brandi had to catch her train too. Next time, fellas! and Welcome Back to the U.S.!! See, we weren’t lying when we gave you that petition when we said you had a lot of fans who wanted you back here. See you in Vegas!

Photos from this gig are now in the Gallery.

So… whole (a bit) tour recovery took a bit longer than a weekend, thank you to sinuses/cold/head/ache/work. While it’s not hot off the press,  I can look back and ponder, with a smile.

Newcastle… 8 years and 1 day since my first ever TD gig. The first of my tour dates,  it was easy to be excited and easy for it to be a great gig in my eyes just because – but it wasn’t just due to that. The place really was jumping, with an electric feel in the air. Expectations were running high for the whole tour. Fans either knew what the old standards were, or had heard about them in hushed terms of legend from others. Like I said before in another post, there was hell of a lot of reconnection going on, and now a tide of affection and support building up behind The Darkness.

Crown Jewel Defense went down pretty well – it must be interesting to be first on out of 3 – and were better than many a support band I’ve seen in my time. I approve of glitter liberally applied, too.  Then came something that I’d waited quite some time for  – Foxy Shazam. Heard about, listened to, tried to see once but was too late. WELL. I’m not sure I’m not still wondering ‘what the FUCK was that?’ but I can say it was bloody amazingly fantastic. They’re getting their own review. All I can say here is go and find out about them, now. Hurry. Especially if you’re in America and have tickets for February.

The Darkness. Oh yes. Back.  Boys, Town, In, Are, Arrival.  I don’t think anyone was left in any doubt about that. Uplifted and rocked as well. Every single older song was greeted with glee. Holding My Own was a real revelation, a Justin solo acoustic, beautifully done. Quite a mesmerising moment. Might well have been poignant too, if it had had completely different lyrics :D. Dan’s arm waving from the back of the stage wouldn’t have helped a straight face, either. Street Spirit – YAAAY! This was the first thing, early in 2003, that connected the voice and the name ‘The Darkness’ in my head when I heard it on the radio. It was a real joy to hear it live just for that reason! Loved Christmas Time’s snow….

A good many people had heard Cannonball, Concrete and Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us before, thanks to youtube, but live, they’re something else. They’re all pure Darkness, but differently. Cannonball is a hard and..umm… ballsy explosion, Concrete a catchy rock earworm, and NGSU is TD’s best poprock with sharp little edges.  Those three have superb trademark Justin vocals, high and crystal clear. Can’t Believe It’s Not Love is a marvellously swingy, singalong gift in notes that you or I can manage without destroying our own balls or ovaries. Versatile voice goes hand in hand with varied songwriting, more so than ever before.  New and old mixed seamlessly, I think – although I had seen them before and was pretty used to the new ones already. A mark of song excellence – just typing this has created 4 earworms all at once and it’s making thinking very hard!

This was a TD gig at tour greatness. It had everything. Excitement, fun, nostalgia,  future, brilliance,  rock, losing band in dry ice, laughter and sweat.  Next…

Next was Cambridge, a whole lot colder and foggier.  Never been so glad to see the end of the journeys there and back!  The inbetween was worth the scary driving bits, though, of course. The Cambridge crowd took longer to get going. Perhaps because it was bloody cold in there. The barrier was so cold I yelped when I leant on it! I don’t think it really truly rocked until Justin whipped the crowd up, though Foxy Shazam made the place buzz beforehand.  By the end of a cracking set,  they were eating out of his hand and making the most ridiculous noises at his merest whim.  More ridiculous than normally happens, I mean.  Ok.  I knew Newcastle was never going to be a fluke, but it has been confirmed.  Slick as a greased parrot, they are GOOD at what they do, and yar boo bollocks to anyone who says otherwise.

UEA. No fog, ten minutes down the road, bliss.  Home gig, so this one is ace whatever happens, it always is. Fantastic atmosphere in the smallest venue of the tour, I think. CJD – no one will ever forget those shorts. Foxy Shazam – blew me away again.  Lots of name checking friends, wondering where Dad’s gone, happy crowd, happy band. First time, also, that I noticed that Justin stuck plecs to his chest with own sweat to use later.  In this Christmas Time, the snow fell straight on to the crowd,  which after the last two gigs as a bit of a surprise. 2 seconds into the song and the stuff is in my hair, mouth, boots, socks, jeans pocket and  undies.  No mean feat, that last one, they’re well protected, but there it was when I got ready for bed.  This gig was my favourite so far. It just felt so damn right and that everything had fallen into place for a perfect night.

Next night – Hammersmith. Mad rush, getting changed into jeans still discharging snow (am sure they didn’t need a machine any more, just shake the entire front row from UEA), getting the train and tube and makeup together.  And lo, arrived at the front just as CJD got into their stride, causing a young lady of my acquaintance to raise a very interested eyebrow. It’s  the last night of the UK mainland tour tonight. Great crowd from the off tonight, bouncing off the walls and as excited as UEA and Newcastle. Me too, as there were old friends there, including the most fabulous Laurie, who after long years had finally ended up in the same place as me. YAAY! Foxy Shazam come on and hit the ground running and rolling. They’re not a stationary band, but tonight was their last night as they weren’t going to Ireland, so they gave it their all. If you weren’t blown away, you might be made of brick! What a delight they are.

The Darkness. Again. Here they are, also giving it everything.  It IS the best of the lot I’ve seen, I’ve decided, though the UEA ones always have a special feel. Superb everythings, not a moment wasted or a note misplaced. Justin did misplace the microphone for a bit though – rushing up, opening mouth, singing… oh.  Sorry, Justin, still giggling at that one! Lord knows what it was doing on the drum riser – was it just after the headstand? Normal service was resumed with a grin. More snow ended up in my undies and elsewhere (even under my phone cover, phone in zipped up bag) but it was just FUN dancing in it.

Encore.  Bareback, Tie Your Mother Down, IBIATCL, LOTR. We know what to expect, some final mental partying before.. oh. Hang on just a fucking minute. That’s… that’s BRIAN MAY. Long time champion of  Lowestoft’s finest is ON STAGE. WITH GUITAR. I was wondering, after the 100 Club, when it would happen, and the rumours of something special for tonight had made me wonder even more – but the actual fact of it happening right there in front of me was something else, baby.  For three glorious songs, including one of his own,  TD became a 5 piece.  They truly looked like they were in the dream they later tweeted about.  What a moment. What a legendary gig. It’ll be spoken of in years to come as ‘the’ one, and not one person there on or off the stage will forget it.

With the exception of the epic Love On The Rocks, we were all done, standing in awe.

The Darkness deserve all the plaudits they got and will get for this tour. It can’t possibly be easy to come back after 5 years, playing with other great bands, and do what they’ve done. But to do it this way? It seemed so seamless. Effortless.  Confident. How did they do that? Justin (and Dr May) said to tell people that The Darkness are BACK.  And they were both right.

Go forth and Darkangelise!

Review by ‘Love on The Rocks’

Seven years is a very long time to wait. It’s long enough to go through that cycle of fondly reminiscing, to briefly forgetting, then to coming back and wondering… Can something really still be as good seven years later?

It was the big question that stuck in my mind when I went to see The Darkness at the Edinburgh HMV Picturehouse on the 9th of November. The first time I’d seen The Darkness was back in 2004 at Brixton Academy, on their Elf Hazard Tour. I didn’t realise that first time would be the last for a very long time, and have since mourned not having caught them before the band’s break-up. That night back in 2004 was hands down the most fun I’d had at a gig, ever. I was a little worried that I’d be disappointed, that it wouldn’t live up to the incredible memory I have of being 17 years old, excited beyond belief, leaping around and squealing at having touched Justin’s leg during the ‘Love On The Rocks’ walkabout. Could it still be that good?

However, videos and reviews from the band’s summer gigs had my hopes up and I was already buzzing like an excited teen again as I bustled into the Picturehouse. I’d never been to the Picturehouse before and was quite surprised by how small it seemed, however this did please me as it meant that it was very easy to get near the front (especially considering we were pretty early). It seemed like a fairly nice venue.

Crown Jewel Defense were the opening support. I’m sure they’re lovely lads, but they weren’t quite my cup of tea though my gig partner/the boyfriend seemed to like them more than I did. I did have to give props to the lead singer for what looked like a custom-made t-shirt with ‘Fly Like a G6’ scrawled on it, which did make me chuckle.

Foxy Shazam were up next and I was incredibly excited about this. I’d been recommended Foxy Shazam by another Darkling so had looked them up and had promptly fallen in love. They opened with ‘Oh Lord’, which is one of my favourites so I was happily bouncing around, screaming along to the lyrics. On my own, so it seems. I was a little disappointed that the crowd where I was, on Dan’s side of the stage, took some time to warm up to Foxy. However, Foxy blasted through their set which was, regrettably, too short for my liking, and I’m sure that they had won over most- if not all- of the crowd by the end. Highlights were Eric’s head-stand and Sky, the keyboardist, seeming to keyboard-crowd-surf with his instrument at one point. I don’t know how it was quite humanly possible but was quite a spectacle. I loved every minute. Once they were off stage, I asked my gig companion what they thought and the reply was “They’re fantastic, but the lead singer’s insane isn’t he? I’m glad there’s a barrier between us…”

Then there was that moment- the waiting game. You could feel a change in the air as the crowd started to shift and get restless. Everyone knew what was coming next. It’s at this point that I must thank the lovely tall lad who let me stand in front of him so I could see, thus placing me on the barrier, which I remained clamped onto like a limpet for the rest of the gig. Thank you, Tall Lad – you helped make the gig that bit more awesome for me.

I’m sure every Darkling out there knows that moment, the one when you know you’re in for one hell of a night. It’s when the first notes of ABBA’s ‘Arrival’ start trickling out of the speakers, and the lights go down. Your tummy flips, your heart skips a beat then starts pounding, and you can’t help but bounce in your spot a little bit as you know exactly what’s going to happen next.

After their grand entrance, the band launched straight into ‘Black Shuck’, which had the crowd going veritably wild. Although an excellent opener, I’ll admit that I felt a twinge of regret that we weren’t getting the classic ‘Bareback’ to launch us into the gig. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect in terms of set list since I hadn’t read anything about the Liverpool gig the night before, but think it was very well arranged with a good ‘greatest hits’ feeling about it while giving us a taste of what more was to come in terms of The Darkness in 2011/2012. All of ‘Permission to Land’ was played, as well as ‘One Way Ticket’ and ‘Is It Just Me?’ from the band’s second album. I would have loved it if we’d had more of the B-sides other than just ‘Best of Me’ and ‘Bareback’ (which made an appearance during the encore), since although they are two cracking tunes, The Darkness are one of those bands with an excellent array of B-sides (plus I’ve always wanted to hear ‘Out of My Hands’ live).

One great unexpected surprise was the acoustic version of ‘Holding My Own’. I was genuinely delighted when the rest of the band cleared off and Justin struck up the familiar chords. It worked really well as an acoustic piece and Justin, unsurprisingly, did fantastically holding the stage by himself. It was genuinely a beautiful moment. This was topped off by Dan peering out from the wings at one point and trying to encourage the crowd to get their hands in the air- hilarious

The new material was truly excellent. I’d heard videos of ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us’, ‘Concrete’ and ‘Cannonball’ from the summer gigs and was already a great fan of the songs, so it was great to hear them being played live. There really is some stunning guitar work going on in all three songs, and it’ll be interesting to hear studio versions of them hopefully in the not-too-distant future. The newer addition being debuted, ‘Out of This World’/’Can’t Believe It’s Not Love We’re Making’ (there seems to be a little dispute over the actual title of the song at the moment), is just a classic Darkness track- very catchy, excellent guitar work, fantastic vocals, something you can jump around to and that will be stuck in your head for days after hearing it. It’s a real corker, so look out for that one!

The encore was solid, though it did feel strange having ‘Bareback’ so late on in the set- however glad it was still included! I loved their cover of Queen’s ‘Tie Your Mother Down’. I got the distinct feeling that they were really having fun with it, and you can’t help but grin and sing along when you can tell that the people rocking on stage are having the time of their lives too. It just reminded me so much of what I’d missed about music when The Darkness were ‘off the scene’, as such- I missed having fun. I missed hearing music that made me grin like a loony and want to sing along to it, regardless of the fact that I’d never, ever be able to reach those top notes like Justin can.

The night closed in the traditional manner with ‘Love On The Rocks’ (a personal favourite) and Justin’s walkabout. Though I’d been whisked back to my teenage days, this time I did not rush to touch his leg (although amongst his many costume changes, Justin seemed to have whipped out a classic pink-and-white number that may well have been the one teenage me touched back in the day). Through the deafening screams, you could tell that no-one in the venue wanted the night to end and yet that everyone had had a mind-blowing night of rock. This was how it should be done.

As I left the venue, ears ringing, grinning from ear to ear, it felt so good to be able to say “They’re BACK!”

Video of Holding My Own – there are other videos on the same channel, from that gig.

Marci Hawkins Reviews:

This was a pretty exciting gig for me, the boys playing in my town?! I had to get tickets! Recently saw Whitesnake in Bournemouth and while it was great, the traveling is a pain, so just turning up and going home right away was a very nice change.

This was the third time I had seen the boys, the first was during their last tour back in 2006 at the NEC. Sat pretty far back and to the side was kinda disappointing, but not bad for a first gig. I kept up to date on all things TD during the 5 year gap, from loving Hot Leg and Stone Gods (What ever did happen to album 2?) and hunting down rare tracks/live versions etc.

As with everyone, I was ecstatic when they reformed, and swore I would go to as many shows as possible. I was always disappointed I never got to see Frankie on stage. So when I heard they would be playing 3 warm up shows in small venues, I jumped at the chance and trekked all the way to London for what was an unforgettable gig.

First up was Crown Jewel Defense, whose drummer and bassist passed me in the line outside many a time and I thought they were roadies. Sorry Lads! Got quite the shock when the roadies picked up instruments and began playing them…

My friend Karl had been to the gig in Brighton and said the lead singer used five different guitars for five songs, alright for some! They kept the crowd entertained pretty well. Some great foot tapping/head nodding american stadium rock songs. They had stage presence and sounded rather tight, i’d pay some money to see them again. I was expecting them to be Max Raptor bad, who now always remind me of a silent crowd who then all sing along to “My Sharona” as soon as they have left the stage.

Might i add that the support for 2006 (The Ark) turned out to be one of my favorite bands, so the pretty constant mention of Foxy Shazam by Justin got me excited but the quick YouTube search didn’t fill me with hope, pretty average songs and weird videos… But oh how I was wrong!

You MUST go see Foxy Shazam live,I imagine their pre-show rituals involve snorting cocaine and caffeine. Before I knew what was going on, the front of the stage was being swarmed by press as the lead singer, Eric, rolled across the stage and threw the mic and himself around the stage.

I admit, I didn’t pay much attention to the songs, I was too busy trying not to miss anything any of the band members were doing, pretty surreal to see a trumpet player dive between the lead guitarists legs and turn your head to see the keyboardist playing with his feet while standing on his instrument. But the tour de force has to be Eric leapfrogging onto the shoulders of the soloing lead guitarist. I can’t begin to imagine how many guitars they’ve knackered getting that right.

Was pretty damn amusing seeing the press trying to keep up with him to take a picture.

But The Darkness were the main reason I was here, and they did not disappoint. Granted I didn’t think it was as good as the London show (thanks to the crowd, which Justin picked up on half way through: “Why don’t we have some fucking fun?”)

There was a touching moment where the two brothers and Frankie played side by side, it’s so great to see them enjoying themselves once again, long may it last.

Opening with Arrival (what else?!) and kicking straight into Black Shuck, the first few songs seemed to fly by with little crowd interaction. Though saying that, there were some throw backs to yester-year that were alarmingly missing from the earlier shows, things like “Gimmie a D!… Gimmie an “Arkness!” and thumbs!

That continued to the costumes. Dan looked out of place without his Thin Lizzy t-shirt and no cat suit for Justin! Good thing Dan changed for the encore, as did Justin various times throughout the gig to reveal some famous cat suits. These little things made the gig for me, the little nods to the older darklings complete with Best Of Me solo behind the head.

My only gripe was the dry ice. Got used a bit too much, which I think Justin agreed with as he hurried off to the side to tell someone he couldn’t see his pedal. We lost the band at one point… Eric would have broken his neck if he had a dry ice machine.

Justin sang a beautiful solo acoustic rendition of Holding My Own proving, if it was needed, that along with balls out rock, he can write and perform a timeless ballad. Tie Your Mother Down would have been a very very nice surprise if I hadn’t seen it already days before 🙁 Hearing that they would be back next year was the icing on the cake. See you next time boys, say hi to the chick rocking out and having a great time, like she always does at your shows.

More photos are on the Galleries page.