Live Review: The Darkness – Civic Halls, Wolverhampton
16th December 2023
Support: Bad Nerves
Words: Matt Noble
Photos: Scott Clarke
Bad Nerves from Essex start the night with charisma and attitude, their garage punk received well by tonight's crowd. With synchronised jumps and a clear image they look the part as they deliver a bombastic, high energy set. They aren't well known, but there's definitely a few at the front going crazy for them, which they appreciate, with their singer getting to the barrier to pass those super-faithful the mic to shout a chorus out towards the end. The stage show is good too, as they build momentum and suspense for the second to last track, all standing stationary before the song kicks in. Surely, they leave with good exposure and plenty of new fans to cheer them on next time.
There's a HUGE cheer as the lights go down and The Darkness launch straight into Black Shuck, which gets the crowd singing and clapping straight away. Celebrating 20 years of Permission to Land - which even I can remember coming out - tonight is a glorious nostalgia trip and a reminder of what made us all fall for The Darkness in the early noughties. You'd expect them to go pretty quickly into the next one, but Justin follows up Black Shuck with a massive rant about people on their phones at gigs, thanking tonight's audience for not waving their mobiles in his face from song one. Encouraging us to live for tonight with phones in pockets, with plenty of his trademark dry wit, they (finally) go into a high octane Get Your Hands Off My Woman.
Before Growing on Me can be played, there's more mild chaos between songs as a man in the crowd asks Justin why there's no naked woman on tonight's Permission to Land backdrop. Justin, in turn, invites him to be the woman and come onstage. After a brief strip tease, we then get a local Darkness fan clearly having the time of his life with them, dancing, shimmying, air guitar'ing and shaking his moneymaker with his shirt off as Growing on Me is performed by a band with wide grins on their faces. This is really is what rock and roll is all about.
Dan and Frankie are faithful rhythm players, locked in with Rufus at the back like clockwork. They know when to show off a bit, but mostly keep it steady and create the meat of the sound of a well seasoned rock band. Throwing out picks and moving around with presence, they are solid at what they do. Justin, on the other hand, is a real force of nature. He has the cockiness, flashy solos, and an impeccable lead vocal that only he can pull off. Entertaining the crowd with anecdotes, tales and opinions between songs, or actually joining them for a flawless extended solo in Love On The Rocks With No Ice, he really has to be seen to be believed. More importantly, he delivers, and has the vocal and guitar talent to back it up.
There's a couple of surprises. When they say they're revisiting the Permission to Land album, they really mean it, playing B-sides from the album such as Makin' Out and I Love You 5 Times (which sees the band minus Justin all swap instruments). They play a bit of Immigrant Song, Street Spirit (Fade Out) and even the riff from Heartbreaker at the very end. And yes, it is December, so they pull out a Santa hat and some sleigh bells for a rousing Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End).
Love Is Only A Feeling is a highlight of the night, the power ballad of the album, and I Believe In A Thing Called Love naturally brings the house down with the entirety of The Halls, from the barrier to the balconies, dancing and singing along. Overall, it's fun, it's energetic, it's entertaining, and it feels like a real performance, but The Darkness are truly great musicians and play to the crowd. The set exclusively made up of songs from 2003, which they recognise as their biggest era. For everyone out to have fun and enjoy themselves, it's really a night to remember.
Get your tickets in for the 25th anniversary tour.
Photo credits: Scott Clarke Photography
