Artist: The Darkness & Ten Benson

Venue: Academy 3, Manchester

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.

Cheers guys! See ya next time ya tour!

 

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