Live Review: The Darkness

After a lengthy sci-fi synth opening The Darkness stride on stage, the band's logo boldly emblazoned on the wall behind them. They launch straight into Black Shuck, the very first song from their debut album. This is a band whose feet are firmly planted in the past; in their own fairly inauspicious history as well as that of rock music in general. Still, it's an impressive display of good old-fashioned rock and roll showmanship, climaxing with frontman Justin Hawkins emphatically proclaiming, "We're The motherfucking Darkness!"

Next up is Growing On Me, which offers a showcase of Hawkins' striking falsetto, followed by what seems to be a new song, All The Pretty Girls. Tonight's set consists mostly of songs from 2003's Permission To Land, peppering in a selection from across their catalogue, plus a few new ones. The band appears to be really enjoying playing these songs and, really, why else would they be doing it at this point? Justin Hawkins probably expected to be playing larger venues at this stage in his career, but he plays tonight as if 170 Russell were a stadium. He leaps around in his shiny blue catsuit with the zipper down to below his belly button.

At one point, bassist Frankie Poullain makes a big show of holding a cowbell. The crowd chants "Cow-bell! Cow-bell!" as the rest of the band stands earnestly by, with hands on hearts. It all culminates with One Way Ticket, but is soon topped by the overblown power ballad, Love Is Only A Feeling. Another highlight is Friday Night, which includes some of the most theatrical, vocally acrobatic call and responses you're likely to see.

Between these highlights are a few songs built around C-grade AC/DC-aping riffs which only Darkness die hards would know (if such a thing exists in 2017). Almost every song ends with a big, flashy finale, to the point where things feel slightly repetitive. It's usually pretty easy to tell when a song is from Permission To Land, but that has more to do with the reception those songs receive, rather than any distinct musical characteristics. 

At long last arrives the band's signature hit, I Believe In A Thing Called Love. It begins as a subdued lounge version but soon erupts into a spirited, joyous rendition of the song we all came to hear. The Darkness is essentially a tribute band to every hard rock and metal group from the '70s, but there are few bands doing what they do these days and even fewer who do it with such verve. They seem self-aware enough to understand what people want from a Darkness show and they dish it out in spades. It's good, dumb fun.