Band:
The Darkness Venue:
Academy 3, Manchester, UK Date:
28 March 2003
Much
to the amusement of our friends, as soon as we saw the tour dates
for The Darkness and realized they weren't coming anywhere near the
North East, we set the wheels in motion to head South to catch a
glimpse of these wild men of rock. Perhaps South isn't quite the
right word for it because we only had a two-hour drive down to
Manchester Uni to see them in action.
We'd heard the single, we'd seen the video, and very soon we'd be
seeing them live right before our very eyes. When we arrived there a
friend we'd arranged to meet at the gig asked us why we'd come all
this way just to see the band. We replied it was because we thought
they were good. To this he smiled and asked if we'd seen them
support Def Leppard on their recent tour. We said 'nope' but that we
were looking forward to seeing what they had to offer for our own
eyes. To this he just gave a wry smile and said … 'ah, well I hope
they're worth it and you're not disappointed'! This was coming from
a guy who had seen them on said tour, and although he didn't seem
overly impressed, he'd still come back to check them out again.
Surely they must have something going for them.
The opening band tonight were Ten Benson, a band who have been
around since the dawn of time, or so they'd have us believe. Taking
to the stage at around 8.30 pm they came on looking like a bunch of
scruffy truckers. Oh yes, when I say truckers, I mean traditional
American truckers. Dressed in matching black string vests, dirty
jeans and baseball caps it was indeed trucker chic taken to the
limit. Only of course they weren't truckers and I dare say if they
ever met a real trucker they'd run a mile.
Although the songs all had semi-decent beats to them they all tended
to run into each other without much to distinguish them apart. In
fact to be honest after about the third song it became increasingly
difficult to distinguish one song from another. It could have been
one long song that lasted way too long for all we knew. The room was
packed with punters by this time, half were the over 30 brigade who
had obviously seen the band out on tour with Def Leppard, the rest
were a much younger audience, mainly students. Quite ironically the
older members of the crowd seemed to shuffle backwards on mass as
the set progressed, while the youngsters pushed forward and seemed
to be really getting off on this mundane, mutant brand of rock.
To describe this torturous sound on the eardrums I would hazard a
mixture of ZZ Tops, Zodiac Mindwarp and perhaps a dash of early The
Almighty. Now drink heavily and turn up the bass and put them in the
blender.
Looking around at my fellow rockers stepping backwards with every
tune I have to say they certainly weren't my cup of tea and if I
never saw them again it would be too soon. Rather bizarrely though
the youngsters were soon cramming around the merchandise stall to
buy their CD and get it signed from the band after the show!
A
couple of pints later and the real reason we were here tonight burst
onto the stage looking all fired up and ready to go. You could see
them buzzing with life and almost hear the adrenalin as it coursed
through their veins as they launched straight into 'Black Shuck'.
Visually they may have looked a bit bizarre with their mish mash of
dress styles, but musically they were rock solid and out to take no
prisoners.
The band knows they look a tad 'Spinal Tappish' but do they care? Do
they heck! This is good time Classic Rock at it's finest. The roots
of this band and their songs are easy to spot, look towards the
greats such as AC/DC, Queen, Thin Lizzy and perhaps even Def Leppard,
and you won't be far off the mark. Against the songs from their
support act which fell flat on their face these songs sounded alive,
crackling with electricity and sparkle. Sure they weren't anything
original and it's debatable just how this band can go with songs
like this. But by gum they sure as hell know how to give their
punters a good time. Their single sounded great, their video looked
fun, but live, oh yes live, this band are quite simply brilliant.
There's no grand pomp and ego's here, just good old-fashioned rock
that had everyone in the room bouncing up and down from start to
finish. One of the most rock n' roll moments of the night was when
lead singer Justin Hawkins left the stage, only to appear seconds
later on the shoulders of a bouncer who then wandered around the
throngs of fans out in front before returning him back to the safety
of the stage. Us old folk have seen all this before but it was great
to see it again. The kids were in raptures though, lapping up every
second as they pawed at his skimpy black and white catsuit as he was
paraded around the room.
Musical highlights during the set included my personal favourite
'Stuck in a Rut'. Soooo AC/DC it's simply delicious. Perhaps next
time Brian & Co visit these shores next they should give some
serious consideration to taking these lads out with them? Also their
mega hit single 'Get you hands off my Woman', and 'I believe in a
thing called Love'. In all honestly there wasn't one dodgy song in
the whole set though. Even Dan's solo was kept to a reasonable
length and allowed him to step forward and take some of the
spotlight off his big brother for a few minutes. Looking somewhat
warm under all the lights this lad sure knows his way around the old
fret board.
The whole band seemed to be on fire tonight and the songs grabbed
you by the throat and gave you a good shaking. It was simply
intoxicating to be in the same room as this band tonight. In fact it
begs the question … are The Darkness, and in particular lead singer
Justin Hawkins, the next David Lee Roth? Before you wet yourself
laughing just think about it for a second. They have a lead singer
who is hot to trot and who thinks nothing about strutting around the
stage with a devilish look in his eyes clad only in a skintight
lycra catsuit. Sparkling with wit and good humour he exudes all the
classical sex god qualities of the likes of David Lee Roth or David
Coverdale.
The rest of the band are all solid musicians who also enjoy the
thrill of the crowd without sacrificing their musical ability. The
songs are fun and the punters go away from a show having seen a
bloody good show. All we need now is for bassist Frankie Poullain to
lose that dodgy Freddy Mercury moustache and we'd have ourselves a
right set of pin-up boys.
OK,
so they weren't breaking new ground with their songs, and they did
look like stage extra's for Spinal Tap. BUT! They RAWK big time and
I for one can't wait to hear the new album when it's released
because it's been a long time since I've come away from a gig
singing me head off and grinning from ear to ear. I did tonight and
it was all thanks to these guys.
My friend said after the gig that they were so much better tonight
as headliners than they were when he saw them supporting Def Leppard.
We certainly weren't disappointed with their performance and by the
look on his face neither was he. They were definitely worth the
journey down to see them here tonight.
Much
to the amusement of our friends, as soon as we saw the tour dates
for The Darkness and realized they weren't coming anywhere near the
North East, we set the wheels in motion to head South to catch a
glimpse of these wild men of rock. Perhaps South isn't quite the
right word for it because we only had a two-hour drive down to
Manchester Uni to see them in action.
A
couple of pints later and the real reason we were here tonight burst
onto the stage looking all fired up and ready to go. You could see
them buzzing with life and almost hear the adrenalin as it coursed
through their veins as they launched straight into 'Black Shuck'.
Visually they may have looked a bit bizarre with their mish mash of
dress styles, but musically they were rock solid and out to take no
prisoners.
OK,
so they weren't breaking new ground with their songs, and they did
look like stage extra's for Spinal Tap. BUT! They RAWK big time and
I for one can't wait to hear the new album when it's released
because it's been a long time since I've come away from a gig
singing me head off and grinning from ear to ear. I did tonight and
it was all thanks to these guys.
