Yes, ladies and gentlemen – the Darkness is still rockin’ hard after almost fifteen years since this British quartet released their first full-length album Permission to Land. And today, the band is currently on tour across the US in support of their latest offering Pinewood Smile, which may rival Permission as one of their strongest efforts to date. The lads in this cheeky outfit, have decided to name their musical circus the “Tour de Prance”. Thus, once again, showing their sense of humor and possibly taunting their nay-sayers to brush them off once again. However, like Smile, the band rocks and so do their performances. It’s true, that they may slide a healthy portion of tongue-in-cheek lyrics into their songs and jokes and gags may permeate their lives show, but it is a mistake to dismiss this band as a joke. A mock-rock band, like the Steel Panther, they are not.
The talented, current line-up features three of the four original members, Justin Hawkins (lead vocals/guitar/piano), Dan Hawkins (guitar) and Frankie Poullain (bass/cowbell). Rufus Taylor (drums/vocals) now resides behind the kit as the band’s newest member after a spell of unexpected temporary replacements came and went after Ed Graham departed. Ultimately, this line-up may be one of their best and at Boston’s Royale Night Club on April 22nd, the Darkness performed for over two hours – packing their headlining set with all of their hits, deep-cuts and plenty of new material from Pinewood Smile.
After the house lights and PA cut out, the stage lights dimmed, and the band’s signature instrumental intro got the show started, much to the audience’s delight. As the band walked out on to the stage, their fans went bonkers. Dan Hawkins walked across the stage, turned and pointed with his thumbs to the Thin Lizzy logo on the back of his satin jacket – giving a nod to one of his all-time favorite bands. Rufus Taylor humbly climbed onto the drum-riser and gave a quick wave as Frankie Poullain strutted to his mark with his Thunderbird bass and mustard-colored suit- complete with bellbottom pants and a butterfly collared jacket. Then the master of ceremonies, Justin Hawkins, clad in a leopard print catsuit and matching cape – playfully took center stage. Wasting no time, the Darkness broke into “Open Fire” and proceeded to melt faces as they tend to do.
Justin Hawkins apparently did not need any time to warm up, as his vocals were spot-on right from the start. The brothers’ dual-attack on their Les Pauls were perfectly matched and intense as they played off of each other while Taylor aggressively laid into his kit and Poullain held the low-end down with gusto. “Fire” was a bold intro and with it, the band made it known that they were in town, to rock and roll with a vengeance. Justin introduced the only ballad of the night. “Love is Only a Feeling”, a power ballad that successfully brings together power-riffs, falsettos and hooks – pleased the crowd as they sang along while waving the arms side to side in unison. From there, all bets were off, and the Darkness stuck to the heavy hitters and slayed the innocent bystanders in front of them.
“Southern Trains”, a blistering and seething track from Pinewood Smile, coupled with the ferocious “Black Shuck”, absolutely rocked the Royale to the foundation. Dan Hawkins, holding the rhythm section together like Malcolm Young of AC/DC, drove his Les Paul through a pair of Marshall stacks that were facing away from the rest of the band – because they were so incredibly loud! Prior to “Shuck”, Justin told security that the gaggle of photographers in the pit could stay for one more song – which was a surprise to the shutterbugs. At the end of “Shuck”, Hawkins readily high-fived and shook the hands of the togs as they left, even having a short conversation with the last one. Hawkins was already in rare-form and having just as much fun as his fans.
As the band got back to business, the boys tore through “One Way Ticket”, “Givin’ Up” and one of their latest singles, “All the Pretty Girls”. “Girls”, the lead-in track from Pinewood Smile, gave Poullain the opportunity to rattle some cages by blasting his rig at bowel-shifting levels. And the hits kept on coming, “Barbarian” and ‘Buccaneers” left a bruising before the fun-loving sing-along of “Friday Night” dialed the burners back a bit. Justin chicken-picked and channeled Chuck Berry for a minute before breaking into the jovial “Every Inch” – which induced a frenzy of dancing in front of the stage.
Taylor’s drumming was impressive as he stayed focused on both his skins and his bandmates throughout. “Solid Gold” was a crowd pleaser, with its catchy chorus (courtesy of Taylor). During “Gold”, Justin Hawkins was happily able to get his prance on – as he flashed his Pinewood smile. A trio of tracks from Permission to Land wrapped up the initial set. “Stuck in a Rut”, “Get Your Hands off My Woman” and “Growing on Me” were perfectly placed as three, fan-favorite sing-alongs – that would have worn out the casual concert-goer. However, the Darkness’ die-hard fans never let up – especially during the chorus of “Get Your Hands off My Woman”.
After an obligatory encore break, filled with chanting from the audience, the band reappeared looking refreshed and ready for more action. Justin Hawkins had made a wardrobe change with an added accessory for a bit of comic relief (see photo gallery). The band opened the encore with “Japanese Prisoner of Love”, which was spectacular, and it rocked 100 times harder than the studio cut from Pinewood Smile. Then Hawkins playfully addressed the audience to discuss how many more songs they wanted the band to perform. After much ado, he quickly played through a section of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive”. It was well received. He then teased the audience with country-fied parody of their own “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” for a short spell, before the whole band got behind him for the proper rendition. The audience sang in chorus and at times seemed to be louder than the band’s mix that pumped through the monitors. The Darkness probably would not have made it out the building, had they not included “Love” into the set.
But, the show was not over. The Darkness delivered one more surprise for their fans as they pummeled their army of fans with “Love on the Rocks with No Ice” – which is another staple of the band’s live set. Three-quarters of the way through the song, for one of Justin Hawkins solos, he found his way off of the stage and on the shoulders of a roadie, who meandered through the sea of fans. Hawkins never broke character, as he steadily soloed on his axe while fans groped him and took pictures and recorded video – just inches from his face. Hawkins was in his glory as he demonstrated another facet of his continued ability to interact with the audience – for which he had done all night long during and in between songs. After making his way back to the stage, together again with his mates – the Darkness brought the song and ultimately the epic show to a close. It was hard to tell who enjoyed themselves more, the band or their fans. Regardless, the Darkness came, they saw, and they conquered Boston once again with a brilliant performance that was not to be missed.
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More photos are coming later today – there was an issue with delivery.