Band:
The Darkness Venue:
Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Date:
29 November 2004
The rags to riches story of The
Darkness has been well documented over the last two years. From the humble
beginnings in Lowestoft to world wide stardom, in such a short period of time, is
what all bands dream of. That fact alone has seen the band shunned and
ridiculed by certain members of the music press.
But this hasn’t stopped them
becoming one of the hottest properties in the music business. Not only have they made the industry sit up and take
notice, but they have taken it by the
scruff of the neck and given it a shake, that some would say it more than deserved.
With all the
influx if manmade bands it took someone like The Darkness to change things,
hopefully for the good. The last time the band were at this very venue was when
they were special guests of the Rock @ The Arena Saturday night rock club after
their were supporting Def Leppard at City Hall.
Opening up tonight's show were Do
Me Bad Things. A band that have the characteristic of having five vocalists. Three main vocalists and two backing vocalists. They opened up their set with
the current single 'Deliverance'.
Their charismatic main front man Nicolai
Prowse made more costume changes than Britney Spears. Perhaps
this was just a way of
handing over the vocals the other two lead vocalists The Woods and Chantal
Delusional. The rest of the band were lead by Rich Man on lead guitar and Lewi
Lewis on guitar, Ad Lick on bass, and Hurricane Tommy on drums
. Together they
gave a solid rock background for the vocals to shine and the resulting big
sound was refreshing to hear. They might not have been everyone's cup of tea
but they certainly made an impression.
The second act on the bill need no
introduction. Ash are a band that have gone up dramatically in my estimation after the release
of their latest album 'Meltdown', which saw the band go back to their
rock roots. Tonight they focused more on that album and just included the
hits from other albums.
They opened up with Tim Wheeler coming on stage with a
burning flying V guitar held high above his head. Then bursting into the title track of the
said 'Meltdown' album, which really got the crowd going. Continuing on with
'Girl
from Mars' and 'A Life Less Ordinary', both storming live tracks.
Other highlights included 'Orpheus' and the new single 'Renegade
Cavalcade'. The final track was 'Burn Baby Burn'.
On this performance
alone I would definitely go out of my way to see them live again.
And so to the main course on tonight's menu, The Darkness.
As the lights went down you could feel the
hesitation of the crowd. Nobody really knew what to expect from a band with
only one album under its belt. But as Justin, Dan, Ed and Frank hit the stage they
seemed at home there and came across as a band that really enjoyed playing
live. I have to say they seemed a lot more relaxed on stage tonight
than in some of their interviews I've seen
on television.
This is after all, what they've always
dreamed of. Playing big arenas to
thousands of people.
They may not have envisaged this happening so soon in their career, but you can't tell me
there isn’t a band in the country who wouldn’t swap places with them at this
particular time.
Opening up with a new track
'Greed', which was a little lost on
some of the crowd, as they had come to hear tracks off the album. These bewildered 'fans' seemed to
lose the fact that this was an opportunity for the band to try out a couple of
new tracks on a live crowd.
The inclusion of pyrotechnics at any show is always a good
thing as far as I'm concerned, and that’s what we had come to see a show.
A show is certainly what you get from The Darkness. They had it all, flash bombs, gas
burners, fireworks the lot and one of the most impressive lighting rigs I have
seen for a long while. Not since I saw Motley Crue in their heyday has a band
put such thought into the stage set.
The set had many highlights including most
of the 'Permission To Land' album and Justin's interaction with the
crowd. Plus the inclusion of more new songs that I for one was very impressed with.
There were some quality new tracks being tested here tonight I can tell
you.
Even Justin riding a stuffed white tiger above
the crowd during 'Love On The Rocks' in a silver cat suit, didn’t seem as
over the top as it should have. Then just as you thought it was all over, the roadies
dressed as Santa's set up two Christmas trees at either side of the stage
complete with lights.
Everyone knew what was next as Justin started with a
few chords of the band aid single. Giving us his thoughts on not being able to
sing the infamous Bono line in the song, he announced that he knew a better song that he
could sing all the words too. This being last years Christmas single.
As the final
pyrotechnics of marked the end of the show you knew you had been well and truly entertained
tonight. Whether you where young or old, tonight you came to see a show and a
show to remember is exactly what you got.
