The Darkness @ House of Blues, Dallas, TX

There are few bands who can still rock the glam band of the 70's and 80's but one such band that remains is the Darkness.   Fronted by the outrageous Justin Hawkins, the Darkness catapulted onto the music scene with their 2003 debut, Permission to Land.  Spawning great songs as "Black Shuck" and "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", Permission to Land has been and will always be the driving force behind the Darkness.  While not as flamboyant as in previous years, the Darkness are well known for their high-octane, off the wall performances, and were recognized as such as Showman of The Year at the 2013 Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards.  Now touring the States behind their effort, The Last of our Kind, the English foursome is out to prove that rock and roll is very much alive.

If you have never seen the Darkness perform live, like I was before this show, you're in for a treat.  It's much more than a concert, it's almost a music-comedy collaboration.  Justin Hawkins, a mixture of Mick Jagger and Freddie Mercury, is one of the funniest frontmen I've ever seen.  He's also very gracious to those in attendance, even those in the photo pit.  As we were leaving after the third song, he made to thank those for shooting and the crowd even gave a round of applause.  A first in my many years in covering concerts.  But you can tell the band is having a good time and made their stage reflect as such.  Behind the band were four light panels that regularly lit up during their performances, but during songs like "Givin' Up", the panels would spell out "F U C K" during the chorus of "givin' up, givin' up, givin' a FUCK".  It's actually pretty comical and genius.

As I mentioned earlier, Permission to Land is the Darkness's bread and butter.  This was apparent in their setlist, as nine out of its ten tracks were performed.  For longtime fans, such as myself, this was graciously accepted with open arms.  Songs such as "Friday Night", "Get Your Hands Off My Woman", and "Growing on Me" are staples of revitalized classic rock and were great to hear live with an extra bump of intensity and loudness.  Not surprisingly, the band capped off their initial set with "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", the most recognized song in their catalog.  It was a nice exclamation point to their performance but the band wasn't finished, coming back onstage with a two-song encore.  Overall, the show was a lot of fun, more fun I've had a show in a very long time.  They're definitely a must-see act.  Photos of the show will be added shortly.


enjoy.

The Darkness @ House of Blues, Dallas, TX The Darkness @ House of Blues, Dallas, TX Reviewed by Scott Rowe, Editor on April 26, 2016 Rating: 5
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