LIVE REVIEW: The Darkness @ Eatons Hill – 27/04/17
It’s been about two years since we’ve been graced with the presence of British rock legends, The Darkness. The four-piece made their way back to Australia for a string of shows including a headline slot at the Groovin the Moo festival. Luckily we were able to catch them at Brisbane’s Eatons Hill, and lets just say they blew the roof off!
We made our way into the incredibly decorated Events Centre to find a stage drowned in blue lights with more Marshall stacks than most bands would deem necessary. The room buzzed with excitement as the sound of bagpipes filled the air. As the smoke machines doused the stage, The Darkness made their way out, led by frontman Justin Hawkins clad in a skin-tight, striped suit, the glory of which knows no bounds!
Wasting no time, The Darkness jumped straight into Black Shuck from their 2003 hit album ‘Permission to Land’. Featuring a rich array of falsettos, an absolutely killer guitar solo from guitarist Dan Hawkins and the crowd singing every word straight out of the gate. THAT is how you start a Rock show!
The crowd did seem a bit flat, despite The Darkness putting on one hell of a show. But Hawkins was determined to psych everyone up by absolutely nailing the popular classic Love is Only a Feeling.
Growing On Me was up next, and this crowd favourite saw Justin grab a guitar, joining his brother Dan in a dual-guitar assault through this high-energy track. After absolutely killing All the Pretty Girls, Hawkins addressed the crowd for the first time, asking what the venue was called, before telling the crowd that he used to call himself Sir Eaton Cox when checking into hotels, much to the crowd’s amusement.
Roaring Waters saw all three guitarists showboating as bassist Frankie Poullain busted out some very nice lines. The Hawkins brothers delivered some incredibly tight guitar harmonies and shared in the spoils of trading guitar solos. Guitar picks were flying everywhere! At that rate they weren’t going to have any, left but it certainly gave the crowd some nice momentos.
And then, lo and behold the cowbell came out. Now well know what that means, One Way Ticket! The crowd literally lost their minds as Frankie set the rhythm for this killer track. Justin really showcased his ridiculous vocal range with the other guitarists delivering some solid backing vocals during the massive chorus, before the band wrapped the song up with a sonic overload of intense drum fills and two-handed finger-tapping behind Hawkins’ shoulder on lead guitar.
The charismatic frontman then took a moment to ask the crowd, “Has anyone here got a drivers licence?” This bizarre request left everyone quite puzzled, yet the banter flowed as some highly-intoxicated patrons exchanged a few words. “We love you but you’ve got to make more f*cking noise!” exclaimed Hawkins who genuinely had a point.
Justin spent the next two minutes trying to put his arms through a bra and G-string, you know, as one does.
The crowd did seem a bit flat, despite The Darkness putting on one hell of a show. But Hawkins was determined to psych everyone up by absolutely nailing the popular classic Love is Only a Feeling. It’s actually incredible how well this band performs live! The stage was alive, and not a single band member was standing still, with the song concluding with drummer Rufus Taylor jumping from the Drums with he last crashes of the song.
After tearing through Solid Gold, the ever-popular Barbarian, and Buccaneers of Hispaniola without any dramas, the streak ended as the wrong guitar was brought out during Mudslide. Of course the band just laughed it off, but considering that a different Les Paul was brought out for each Hawkins brother just about every song, you can kinda sympathise with the guitar tech on this one.
The song ended with one heckler yelling above the crowd much to Hawkins’ delight. The frontman threw his mic into the crowd, extending the chord as far as it could reach. The heckler (named Chris) paused, taking a breath before yelling “It’s a f*cking mudslide!” which sent the band into a frenzy of solos, drums fills and beautiful chaos as they went for one last hurrah. Naturally, Chris wasn’t finished and requested a song. Justin, being the nice guy that he is, sang a very quick version for Chris much to his delight. The lengths these guys go to appease the masses, right?
Just to top things off in true Rock ‘n’ Roll fashion, Justin climbed his guitar tech, descending from the stage as he performed a 3 minute solo while doing laps through the middle of the crowd.
The four-piece led the crowd through blissful renditions of Friday Night, Stuck in a Rut, and Get your Hands Off My Woman, at which point underwear was being thrown on the stage. Justin spent the next two minutes trying to put his arms through a bra and G-string, you know, as one does. The frontman addressed the crowd announcing this next song was their last and we all knew what was coming up after hearing one power-chord! The Darkness threw us into the frenzy as they soared through their biggest hit, I Believe in a Thing Called Love. Literally every epileptic must have died on the spot, as the lights and strobes worked overtime illuminating every inch of the beautiful venue. It was incredible to see such energy from the crowd as every person belted the words from the bottom of their lungs! This was always going to be one of the highlights from the night, but this was truly exceptional to experience.
The Darkness made their way off stage leaving the crowd heavily out of breath after that last effort. Wanting more, everyone stayed, starting the old trusty slow clap. After about four rounds of this people started to begin losing interest, yet we continued until eventually the four-piece made their way back on stage. Guitarist, Dan Hawkins’ hand now had some sort of tape on which may explain the delay however this didn’t stop the party, as the guys jumped straight into Japanese Prisoner of Love. This seemed to be a bit of a strange song for an encore in comparison to some of their other hits, but luckily the moment was saved by busting out an absolute banger in the form of Love on the Rocks with No Ice.
Hawkins again showed off his impressive vocal range as he and Dan traded guitar solos one last time. Just to top things off in true Rock ‘n’ Roll fashion, Justin climbed his guitar tech, descending from the stage as he performed a 3 minute solo while doing laps through the middle of the crowd. Feeling quite accomplished, Justin returned to his natural habitat on stage with his guitar slung over his shoulder looking quite jolly as Frankie took a knee, handing out guitar picks placed on his bass. Justin led the crowd in a strange call and holler moment where things got quite ridiculous, but no one gave a damn; they were enjoying themselves way too much. The crowd roared as The Darkness wound up this epic ending to the spectacle that is their live show.
Overall, The Darkness delivered nothing short of one of the greatest Rock shows we have ever seen! This sounds like a huge call, however we will gladly make it again and again. Their energy and musicianship is almost non-comparable and all we know is we cannot wait for The Darkness to return.
