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The Darkness are a stadium band. It's obvious, from the costumes to the enormous lighting rig to the pyrotechnics. Pity then that this show was incongruously set within the confines of Brixton Academy. And lucky thing too that very soon, they WILL be filling stadiums and if Justin closes his eyes and hopes hard enough, maybe he WILL turn into Freddie Mercury at Live Aid. After all, he seems to think he is already.
Anachronisms aside, the Darkness are a very entertaining band and it made for a memorable gig. After an averageish set from support The Answer (disappointingly not Ash in disguise, as rumoured), the lights darken and the band strut on, Justin wearing what can only be described as a leather/lycra bondage jumpsuit. With glitter. The pre-pubescent girls in the front row sigh and shriek which only reassures Mr Hawkins that he is in fact a sex god, something that most normal people would disagree with. But whatever the crowd at this gig is, it's probably not normal. In fact, the crowd is an unholy mix of 12year olds in Darkness t-shirts, middle aged men pogoing ferociously and families with kids. This is the ultimate "stadium gig" potent - under normal circumstances, who would take their kids to Brixton? On a school night? As I said, this is not normal.
Halfway through the first song ("Give it up") , it seems that the Darkness might just give us too much too soon. Justin solos then throws his plectrum into the crowd, he wiggles his arse, there are pyrotechnics (again on a stadium scale...a bit toasty when you're only 5 metres from the stage!!) and this all in the first three minutes. There's a fear that they'll burn out too soon but this fear proves unfounded. They bounce through song after song with equal amounts of passion. The first singalong song, "Growing on Me" provokes a roar of approval from the crowd and some people maybe even start thinking that Justin is starting to "grow on them"...is he actually quite sexy? Well, maybe for a man with bad teeth and hair. What he does possess in spades is charisma and this elevates him to the status of his icons, fellow jumpsuited, dentally challenged glamrock gods Bowie and the aforementioned Freddie.
Why all this fuss about Justin Hawkins? Well because he's one of an increasingly rare breed, Proper Rock Stars. He dances, dresses and probably brushes his teeth like a rock star. And that's what makes the show interesting. Of course, this is not to detract from the talent and style of the rest of the band...Dan Hawkins solos confidently and quite frankly rocks out. Probably a childhood dream of his, given his Thin Lizzy t-shirt. Frankie shows off his new poufier afro hair (with bandana...nice) and Ed drums. Well, that's what all good stadium bands need.
The gig itself is actually very good. What they have - apart from the image is The Songs. It's easy to forget, in this era of bland faux-indie acoustic type rock (stand up Keane, Snow Patrol, yes you there Coldplay...it's all your fault) that bands need Tunes and the Darkness have an entire set full of them. Songs that feel instantly familiar, as if you've known all your life (or maybe that's just because of my hubby insistently playing the album all year). "Friday Night", "Black Shuck" and "Love is only a feeling" all get warm responses. At one point, Justin disappears and reappears in a bacofoil trousers/little jacket combo and visor. Also with glitter (this time, with "Justin" stencilled on the arse. To match his tattoo). He strides to the front of the stage before asking the crowd "Do I look fat in this?". The little girls scream no and Justin asks if he should remove the jacket. Oblivious to our cries of "No! Put it away!" he does so and continues to monologue for the next few minutes about his growing beer belly before concluding that he "can't be arsed to go to the gym", not even for the sake of the fans and plays some more music. He clearly enjoys interacting with the audience, indulging in a little "follow the leader" singalong based around the main lyric of "Get Your Hands Off My Woman". He then hands the microphone to the crowd so that random audience members can try it...with varying results. Also notable was the introduction of Justin's "keytar" (chosen by audience vote over "geeboard"). Watching the Darkness is a little like a pantomime. Which is no bad thing.
The sound is a little disappointing, given the huge stack of Marshall amps a la the "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" video. Probably turned up to a little less than 11, in consideration of the younger people there. Despite this, it was a good tight RAWK sound and the vocals - as always- dominated. There were a couple of new songs which were fairly unmemorable but generally the gig highlights were the Ones Everyone Knows. Of course, when they left the stage for the first time there was one notable gap and it was to everybody's relief that they returned and broke into "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", Justin by now wearing a holographic jumpsuit with admiral detail and an admiral's hat. Clearly a man who likes to cover all his fashion bases. One blast of "Love on the Rocks" later and they're off again.
But not for long. Justin returns and - sitting at the keyboard- plays the opening chords of "Do They Know it's Christmas" before saying "And now for a real Christmas single!" and breaking into "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" A little snide Justin, considering you're on the new Band Aid single. Maybe it's because he's still sulking about not being allowed to sing Bono's line. If it wasn't for that pesky Bono being there again... "Christmas Time" is delivered immaculately and poignantly and - as the band exit - giant glitter cannons release powerful showers of glitter into the arena, choking the front three rows and later being spotted as far away as Camberwell... A final overblown gesture from a band who are too big for Brixton. They deserve to be.
Anachronisms aside, the Darkness are a very entertaining band and it made for a memorable gig. After an averageish set from support The Answer (disappointingly not Ash in disguise, as rumoured), the lights darken and the band strut on, Justin wearing what can only be described as a leather/lycra bondage jumpsuit. With glitter. The pre-pubescent girls in the front row sigh and shriek which only reassures Mr Hawkins that he is in fact a sex god, something that most normal people would disagree with. But whatever the crowd at this gig is, it's probably not normal. In fact, the crowd is an unholy mix of 12year olds in Darkness t-shirts, middle aged men pogoing ferociously and families with kids. This is the ultimate "stadium gig" potent - under normal circumstances, who would take their kids to Brixton? On a school night? As I said, this is not normal.
Halfway through the first song ("Give it up") , it seems that the Darkness might just give us too much too soon. Justin solos then throws his plectrum into the crowd, he wiggles his arse, there are pyrotechnics (again on a stadium scale...a bit toasty when you're only 5 metres from the stage!!) and this all in the first three minutes. There's a fear that they'll burn out too soon but this fear proves unfounded. They bounce through song after song with equal amounts of passion. The first singalong song, "Growing on Me" provokes a roar of approval from the crowd and some people maybe even start thinking that Justin is starting to "grow on them"...is he actually quite sexy? Well, maybe for a man with bad teeth and hair. What he does possess in spades is charisma and this elevates him to the status of his icons, fellow jumpsuited, dentally challenged glamrock gods Bowie and the aforementioned Freddie.
Why all this fuss about Justin Hawkins? Well because he's one of an increasingly rare breed, Proper Rock Stars. He dances, dresses and probably brushes his teeth like a rock star. And that's what makes the show interesting. Of course, this is not to detract from the talent and style of the rest of the band...Dan Hawkins solos confidently and quite frankly rocks out. Probably a childhood dream of his, given his Thin Lizzy t-shirt. Frankie shows off his new poufier afro hair (with bandana...nice) and Ed drums. Well, that's what all good stadium bands need.
The gig itself is actually very good. What they have - apart from the image is The Songs. It's easy to forget, in this era of bland faux-indie acoustic type rock (stand up Keane, Snow Patrol, yes you there Coldplay...it's all your fault) that bands need Tunes and the Darkness have an entire set full of them. Songs that feel instantly familiar, as if you've known all your life (or maybe that's just because of my hubby insistently playing the album all year). "Friday Night", "Black Shuck" and "Love is only a feeling" all get warm responses. At one point, Justin disappears and reappears in a bacofoil trousers/little jacket combo and visor. Also with glitter (this time, with "Justin" stencilled on the arse. To match his tattoo). He strides to the front of the stage before asking the crowd "Do I look fat in this?". The little girls scream no and Justin asks if he should remove the jacket. Oblivious to our cries of "No! Put it away!" he does so and continues to monologue for the next few minutes about his growing beer belly before concluding that he "can't be arsed to go to the gym", not even for the sake of the fans and plays some more music. He clearly enjoys interacting with the audience, indulging in a little "follow the leader" singalong based around the main lyric of "Get Your Hands Off My Woman". He then hands the microphone to the crowd so that random audience members can try it...with varying results. Also notable was the introduction of Justin's "keytar" (chosen by audience vote over "geeboard"). Watching the Darkness is a little like a pantomime. Which is no bad thing.
The sound is a little disappointing, given the huge stack of Marshall amps a la the "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" video. Probably turned up to a little less than 11, in consideration of the younger people there. Despite this, it was a good tight RAWK sound and the vocals - as always- dominated. There were a couple of new songs which were fairly unmemorable but generally the gig highlights were the Ones Everyone Knows. Of course, when they left the stage for the first time there was one notable gap and it was to everybody's relief that they returned and broke into "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", Justin by now wearing a holographic jumpsuit with admiral detail and an admiral's hat. Clearly a man who likes to cover all his fashion bases. One blast of "Love on the Rocks" later and they're off again.
But not for long. Justin returns and - sitting at the keyboard- plays the opening chords of "Do They Know it's Christmas" before saying "And now for a real Christmas single!" and breaking into "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" A little snide Justin, considering you're on the new Band Aid single. Maybe it's because he's still sulking about not being allowed to sing Bono's line. If it wasn't for that pesky Bono being there again... "Christmas Time" is delivered immaculately and poignantly and - as the band exit - giant glitter cannons release powerful showers of glitter into the arena, choking the front three rows and later being spotted as far away as Camberwell... A final overblown gesture from a band who are too big for Brixton. They deserve to be.
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1 comment:
nice post like it.....
Leather Jackets
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