The Darkness Copyright Stephen Turner Photography

It was only earlier this year that British glam rock revival band The Darkness announced a reunion and promised what would be its third studio album. The flamboyant falsetto of frontman, Justin Hawkins and extravagant stage shows harkened back to a golden age of arena rock like Queen and Rolling Stones.

The band’s early singles skyrocketed up the charts globally and earned them gold, platinum records and armloads of awards. Alas, it was a short fuse and they disbanded causing a wave of rumours, drug rehab stories and “side projects”.

I was one of many in the crowd to witness The Darkness perform at 2011 Download Festival. Whilst I was casual fan of The Darkness, that particular performance absolutely won me over. The stage performance, energy, lights and pyrotechnics was a no holds barred, full on rock gig. If anyone was in doubt of The Darkness making a true comeback, this certainly laid down the gauntlet.

So with a giddy eagerness, I was looking forward to seeing the band again at the O2 Academy in Birmingham.

The crowd for this particular stop on The Darkness’ tour was well-turned out and represented a pretty wide cross section of age groups and judging from appearances…genre preferences too. The venue was hot and sticky.

As bagpipe background music filled the venue…a few pyros shot up from the front of the stage and I noticed they reached the ceiling. Perhaps this venue was just too small to contain this rather voluptuous band?

“Black Shuck” kicked off proceedings, followed by a rousing “Growing On Me” and “One Way Ticket”. Hawkins appealed to the crowd and easily drummed up some crowd interaction.

The Darkness Copyright Stephen Turner Photography

But already, The Darkness had employed all the classic stage bravados in just three or four songs – running from flank to flank, scissor jumps, strobe lights and guitar licks from behind the head.

Next came a pretty fast paced track, “Nothing Gonna Stop Us” which will feature on the band’s new album due out next year. And this was only the first of a few new tracks that featured in the set list which also included an absolutely cracking, “Concrete” and driving almost bluesy, “Cannonball”.

There were some small breaks in the running order accommodating costume changes and the like which included a purely acoustic performance by Hawkins in “Holding My Own” and long instrumentals.

Then, strangely the band decided to do a cover by Radiohead which sounds bizarre but the choice of “Street Spirit” did showcase Hawkins’ vocal range if anything else.

With less than hour passed, the set list makes its homestretch with “Givin’ It Up”, “Stuck in a Rut” and the very timely “Christmas Time” – which saw the stage drowned in red and green lights and the band doused in a flurry of fake snow.

This was in theory the end…although the band did reappear, costumes changed, pyros shooting and a Status Quo like intro of “Bareback”, a suitable cover in “Tie Your Mother Down” and the penultimate, mega hit “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”.

Checking the time…a measly one hour and 15 minutes had passed since the foursome took the stage and the final song, “Love on the Rocks with No Ice” was played.

So, my verdict is…good but could have been so much better. Was it the venue that lacked the size to endure this act? Was it the band that although seemed enthusiastic was just going through the motions? Or was I spoiled by seeing The Darkness on mammoth proportions at a renowned festival? Regardless, The Darkness is not a band to be trifled with…and well worth a thumbs up.

The Darkness continue its 2011 tour with stops in Ireland during early December. The new as yet unnamed LP is scheduled for a release in early 2012.

Originally published on bestnewbands.com

It was a night of retrospectively paying tribute to a genre that conjures up the music of the 70s.  Two bands that wave the banner for revival rock hit the stage at the O2 – Gentleman’s Pistols with its hairy, metal laced heavy rock and The Answer with equally hairy, Irish brogue, evangelical stuff.

This is a genre that always tears me up.  I am torn between my love of the groove that revival rock presents and the dislike for the inherent aping of Brit, bell bottomed rockers of the past. 

Gentleman's Pistols - Copyright Stephen Turner

Gentleman’s Pistols hailing from Leeds opened with their really heavy, energetic take on rock.  Dirty guitar work, animalistic drumming, and the chest invading thump of the bass dominated my impressions.  They were like a tame Black Sabbath or say a less psychedelic Hendrix Experience and had some quite notable tracks in Some Girls Don’t Know What’s Good for Them and Lyin’ and Fooling.

The Answer Copyright Stephen Turner

The Answer appeared on stage to a funky intro followed by a little widdle and a blaring harmonica.  Fronted by this charismatic golden haired demi-god, The Answer really relies on intensity and driving rhythms in its songs that touch the borders of blues, funk and rock. 

Frontman, Cormac, had previously announced that this tour was all about taking it back to the grassroots and playing sweaty, intimate venues where they could look into the audience’s eyes.  Basically, a big step away from their activity supporting AC/DC a few years back.

The songs and stage presence invoke a likeness of Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes and Mick Jagger.  Often the music seemed a bit untidy at the beginning and endings particularly in the unveiling of its new single, Vida (I Want You). But mostly, the set contained just absolute crowd moving, steady rock with mad instrumental breakdowns, southern rock beats and heritage sounds in tracks like Tornado and One More Revival – also featuring on the new album.

Currently, The Answer is touring the continent but plans to do a full tour with stops in the UK are tipped for March.  More information on upcoming gigs and how to get hold of its new album are available on www.theanswer.ie

Tight punk rock music with a ska, urban twist. Lyrics talking about economic depression, unemployment, terrorism, racism and the welfare state. Hits pretty hard in these times but I’m not talking about some two bit new indie band on the scene. I’m talking about a band that has a 30 year history in the music business and a Midlands band at heart…The Specials.

This 70s/80s, 2 Tone ska revival band is best known for hits like Ghost Town, A Message to You Rudy, Rat Race and Too Much Too Young – all of which featured on what ended up to be a 23 song set plus encore on the debut performance of this nearly sold-out 2011 tour.

With dates set throughout October, your only real chance to see them is Coventry, Ricoh Arena unless you’re happy to go further afield.

Openers for the Specials included a local reggae, ska band, By The Rivers. With their youthfulness, bouncy rhythms, sharp brass and catchy repetitive phrases, they got the heaving Wolverhampton Civic Hall into an almost carnival like atmosphere. Football chants and middle-aged men danced about before the lights went down and another, much more beloved local act took the stage.

Terry Hall with his traditional aloofness, took a drag of his cigarette as true Rude Boy, Neville Staple toasted along side with his echoed injections to Gangsters. This introductory pace produced rapturous applause and was followed with Dawning of a New Era, the upbeat, political Do The Dog and Monkey Man.

For the light hearted on this tour, I wouldn’t opt for standing room only as the floor of the Civic turned into a writhing mass of moshing, dancing and waves of sweating energy received bottles of water from the band.
One thing the Specials always wanted to achieve was to show a breakdown of racial barriers and the song Doesn’t Make it Alright sums it up – “Just because you’re a black boy – Just because you’re a white – It doesn’t mean you’ve got to hate him – It doesn’t mean you’ve got to fight”!

Rat Race, Hey Little Rich Girl, Judge Roughneck preceding Stupid Marriage which got the crowd involved in the final chants at it approached a breakneck speed before ebbing to a slower pace in Friday Night, Saturday Morning and Do Nothing. The Specials hadn’t lost the crowd at all though and them right back in to the mood for dancing with Stereotype and Pearl’s Cafe – it’s all a load of bollocks!
A trio of brass appeared whilst they stopped to chastise those involved and show remorse for the recent summer UK riots and those that were hurt or killed. The tell tale intro of A Message to You Rudy got the venue jumping again and Nite Klub, Too Much Too Young followed. Enjoy Yourself capped off the show in a wonderfully uplifting manner and the band reappeared for Ghost Town as encore.

By far, the recorded material of The Specials was influential both in the day and now but the live musicianship of this band really hit me. They have a truly selfless energy in its performance and crammed in hit after hit of what is a surprisingly only two album career.