Live: The Darkness @ Academy 1

The Darkness
Academy 1
13^th November
5 stars

With the likes of X-Factor bad man, Frankie Coccoza, being brandished as a ‘Rock N Roll’ figure, the world is in desperate need of some proper rock icons. Luckily a couple of blokes from Lowestoft have donned their cat suits once again to save our musically impoverished souls. With support from Crown Jewel Defence and the spectacularly weird, but wonderful Foxy Shazam, The Darkness are announcing their revival in style.

Kicking off proceedings with the rifftastic ‘Black Shuck’, The Darkness showed the sought of classic rock n roll spirit that first caught our eye back in 2000. Never being a band ashamed of their glam rock heritage, they came onto the stage in typically extravagant fashion, with front man Justin Hawkins emerging from a huge cage containing drummer Ed Graham. As they blasted through classics from their black catalogue, we were treated to tracks from their album which is set to be released in April next year. An undoubted highlight came from the sought of timely ‘Christmas Time’, which can’t help but a raise a smile, and a brilliant version of Queen’s ‘Tie Your Mother Down’.

Despite having a wealth of great live material the night was really building up to that song, and when it came it didn’t disappoint. The Darkness attracts teenagers looking to find a band with real substance, as well as tickling the fancy of older guys who hear the strains of Thin Lizzy in the songs. Whether they’ll ever be taken seriously, especially now that Justin is sporting a rather fine musketeer’s moustache, I don’t know, but they certainly are adept at their craft and offer a great alternative to limp R&B and chart music. With the previous troubles behind them, The Darkness are back and hopefully for a lot longer this time.

The Darkness – Get Your Hands Off My Woman (live)

The Darkness – Black Shuck (live)