Darkness Descends Upon Edmonton

A postponed tour, a new album and rejuvenated energy after not being on the road for quite some time led to a great party in Edmonton at Union Hall as The Darkness continues it’s long awaited North American tour.

The show kicked off with the opening track from Motorheart, Welcome Tae Glasgae as The Darkness ripped through an extensive catalogue spanning a couple of decades. Make no mistake, original members Justin and Dan Hawkins and Frankie Poullian along with the latest (2015) addition, drummer Rufus ‘Tiger’ Taylor (son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor) were here to rock our proverbial socks off. And they succeeded. The roughly 400 punters were singing and dancing along showing the band their own pent up appreciation for live music. The frenetic energy of Justin Hawkes helped set the pace for the night. The more he jumped and ran around the stage, the more the audience mirrored his movements. It was a rocking good time.

For nearly two hours, the band ripped through a hit riddled setlist with a few new, or soon to be new, favourites sprinkled in for good measure. The opening of Welcome Tae Glasgae has great lead in bagpipes with drummer Rufus Taylor’s driving bass drum getting you ready for what coming next. Dan Hawkins hit a riff that sets the tone for the rest of the night When Justin Hawkins falsetto voices hits those high notes, it’s refreshing to hear that age hasn’t had an impact. His vocals are just great as it was 20 years ago.

Then the sing alongs started with One Way Ticket and Growing On Me. Judging by the response for the title track of their latest project, Motorheart is sure to be a head banging fist pumping favourite in no time. Justin’s falsetto voice is quite prominent in this track and has just as much impact live. They drove on with more familar hits including Solid Gold, their slam on the music industry with lines like ‘we;re never ganna stip shitting out solid gold’. They then dropped another great new song called It’s Love, Jim. Sadly a few of my favoiurites from the new album were absent from this show such Nobody Can See Me Cry and Jussy’s Girl. It’s hard for a band with an extensive catalogue to narrow your setlist down to 16-20 songs. The choices did not disappoint. And more ‘solid gold’ hits are on the way.

The Darkness are one of many bands keeping the 70s classic rock vibe alive an well. However they are one of the bands who are not replicating the sound of those days by mixing a few influences together. They have crafted their own unique blend of Queen, Styx, Yes with a sprinkle of AC/DC and Sweet to name but a few. A rocking good time is to be had by all who enter The Darkness live shows for some straight forward, fist pumping, head banging sing alongs.

This scribe is one who likes to discover new music everywhere I can. I like to get to shows early enough to check out the opening act. A few times I’ve been disappointed but at least they are giving it their all and learning as they go along. It’s rare that a band drops into the opening slot and blows me away. The last time this happened was Royal Blood opening for the Foo Fighters in 2015. It’s understatement to say I was impressed with the Dead Deads. P:rior to the show I was giving their latest offering, Tell Your Girls It’s Alright, a thorough spin through and was quite impressed. I was anxiously awaiting to see them live.

These three gals (McQueen on drums, Daisy on Bass and Meta on guitar and lead vocals) from Nashville Tennessee did not disappoint. They are straight ahead rockers. I’d call them a mix of The Bangles with the attitude of Riot Grrrls. The Dead Deads are one of the coolest bands I’ve listened to in quite some time. As I mentioned earlier Meta has a Susanna Hoffs sweetness to her voice as can be heard in Thinkers and Preyers and before you know, the Riot Grrrl attitude shines through. They thanked the Darkness for remembering to pick them up by the curb. Both bands were set to embark on a North American tour together in early 2020 before the big pause. The Darkness promised the Dead Deads that they’d be able to open for them when they hit the road again no matter how long it was going to take. I’ve often noticed bands that have postponed tours or gigs, for whatever the reason, return with a different line up and it’s disappointing. The Dead Deads were very appreciative that this tour picked up where it left off. Get out and see them in this intimate setting. It won’t be too long before they are headlining their own bigger tours.

Live rock and roll is back and better than ever. This tour is a refreshing return to the concert venues, no matter the size. The Darkness continues zig zagging through the states with a return to Canada in a couple of weeks as they stop at the Phoenix Theatre in Toronto on April 19th. For more details visit  http://www.thedarknesslive.com/ For details and music from the Dead Deads stop by https://thedeaddeads.com/. As Justin says on thier website: ‘The time has come, the walrus said… to put your fookin pants on your head and rock like Satan is eating your private parts with a pointy fork! Yes, we, The Darkness, are the fuck back on tour, praise Satan’s better half… come and party with us like it’s the last orders at the last chance saloon. We also have a brand new album for your delectation – MOTORHEART, out now..’