The Darkness

The music revelation in 2003 surely must be The Darkness. Four guys from Lowestoft, England playing heavy metal music as remembered from back in the 80s. And not only that, but vocalist/guitarist Justin Hawkins also dresses up in a catsuit and sings in a falsetto as if his balls are being squeezed by Howard Dean.

Their debut album, Permission to Land, is filled with 80s heavy metal, borrowing bits and pieces from AC/DC, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, etc. When they came out, nobody was sure whether they were just taking the piss or are serious. My conlusion is that they are taking the piss seriously and it helped them gather fame and fortune. They're definitely set to be a big band.

Yesterday they played in Zurich. I bought the ticket ages ago, because I wanna see these fools play 80s rock music. The music I remember from my early days. I drove 2.5 hours by myself after work to get there. In there it was full of brits and people not likelt to be found in a Linkin Park concert. Late 20s, 30s, even ealry 40s yuppies were there to celebrate the music the once loved. That's the audience that The Darkness have made their own.

The concert lasted 1h20m. They played almost all of their songs from Permission to Land, with one new song (a sweater song). Justin is just naff. In his catsuit, he really looks like he's stuck in a timewarp with Steve Tyler (from Aerosmith, doooh!) and co. His voice is higher than I thought. Everytime there's a singalong, the crowd just can't reach the notes. Squeezing my balls didn't help. Guitarist Dan Hawkins looked a bit normal. With his black Thin Lizzy shirt he just looks like the ordinary rock fan. Bassist Frankie Puollain and his "pirate" look is another thing to laugh at. Even more so when i realized his roadie was dressed up the same style as Frankie, complete with a bandana (Dan's roadie has a Thin Lizzy shirt on as well). The drummer, well he's just the drummer.

Songs like Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman, Black Shuck, I Believe In A Thing Called Love, Dancing on A Friday Night really got the crowd going. Everybody's jumping and screaming trying to match Justin's falsetto. Justin really loves the attention. He's a good guitarist, so he shows off in every way possible.

They finished the night with Love On The Rocks With No Ice. Walking out and driving home (another 2.5 hours - I must be fuckin nuts to drive 5 hours only for a 1h20m concert!) I felt like a kid again. The same kid who was rocking to Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, and Poison in the 80s and 90s. No wonder The Darkness made it big. Being remembered of childhood is always a nice thing and having a laugh at that is an nice addition.

"You cu-u-uuuuuuunt. Get your hands off of my woman motherfuckaaaaaaaaaaa"