by Chris Murcko

VERIZON WIRELESS THEATER -- 4/11/2004, THE DAY THE DARKNESS FELL: If you were one of the unlucky people who missed The Darkness at the Verizon Wireless Theater on April 11, 2004, well, you missed an incredible show. The Darkness, armed with one U.S.-released album, Permission to Land, and one U.S.-released video, the campy, B-movie-ish "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," put on an over-the-top '80s glam metal throwback performance that turned out to be the best concert I'd seen in years.
If you are familiar with The Darkness, you know that they are reminiscent of such bands as Whitesnake, Warrant, and Ratt. They play guitars behind their backs and with their teeth, they have a power ballad, they shoot videos on the tops of mountains, etc. The thing with the group is that they have sort of a tongue-in-cheek attitude toward it. They don't take themselves too seriously. And -- let's face it -- these cats can play. You know how Poison comes back (sadly) to play for their three die-hard fans every year? This show was most definitely not that. It had more of a kitschy, nostalgic '80s element to it. This factor, coupled with their catalog of air guitar-friendly tunes, simply rocked.
The Wildhearts, the opener, had a surprisingly good set. I had never heard of them (come to find out they've been around for like 10 years), and I don't think much of the audience had either. They rocked regardless, performing their opening band duties and getting us primed for the headliner. They have a truly unique style of music. It sounds like they put equal parts of, say, Sepultura and Blind Melon into a blender and pushed the puree button. It's hard, crunching, stomping metal with pop-rock choruses. By the end of their set, the audience was into them. "May the 4th be with you," the singer advised us (amid groans from the audience), referring to the date their new CD would hit shelves.
After The Wildhearts left the stage, the white curtain went up. When's the last time you saw one of those? Then the lights went down and the cheers started. Justin Hawkins' lanky silhouette suddenly appeared in the center of the curtain, backlit by a single spot behind him. He gyrated as the music started, then BOOM! -- the curtain fell, as they broke into "Bareback," an instrumental UK CD single B-side. The riffage continued with "Black Shuck," "Growing on Me," "Love is Only a Feeling," "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" (the dirty version -- Justin took a vote on account of it being Easter Sunday and all), "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," "Givin' Up," "Friday Night," and a few others, maybe some more B-sides or maybe new songs (I didn't recognize them), sprinkled throughout. The encore was the excellent "Love on the Rocks With No Ice." Slightly disappointingly, "Physical Sex" was not on the set list, but what can you do?
I worried prior to the show that Justin's voice wouldn't sound very good live because of the immense volume of sound they try to cram into small places, but it ended up sounding just as good as it does on the CD. Justin himself is one of that rare breed of great frontmen not seen too often these days, and has this charisma that allows him not only to talk to the audience and perform for them, but to captivate them. In between alternating guitar parts with brother Dan (who was clad simply in jeans and a black Thin Lizzy tee), singing lyrics in his trademark almost-screeching-but-actually-really-cool voice, and changing costumes (he changed outlandish jumpsuits twice), Justin conversed with us. I'm not talking the trademark "How you doin', uh (looks down at current city written on hand) Houston? Are you ready to rock?" He talked with us; he joked with us; he got women to show their boobies and throw their undergarments on stage; he got us to try to sing the closing word of "Get Your Hands Off My Woman." During the encore, he even came through the audience with his guitar (I touched his sweaty upper arm!) by getting a piggyback from one of his roadies. He was great. The entire band has a wonderful, cohesive chemistry that really comes across on stage.
Supposedly, The Darkness is coming back sometime in the near future. If you are looking for a great rock show, you must go. It's a loud and flamboyant, complete with excellent jumpsuits, excellent band members, and, of course, excellent music.

LINKS:
The Darkness -- http://www.thedarknessrock.com/; The Wildhearts -- http://www.thewildhearts.com/

No photo -- courtesy of The Darkness.