Flamboyant rockers “The Darkness” took Sydney by storm recently on Thursday 13th April.
Playing a sold out show at Luna Park’s Big Top and an hour and a half set, they proved why they really are saviors of rock and roll.
I had heard from various people that the sound quality at the Big Top is not very good and that I shouldn’t expect to hear much, they were wrong. From where I was standing (front row, left hand side) the sound was spot on, song after song it was perfect. However, towards the back of the venue the sound wasn’t very good, or so I’ve heard, but I have no complaints.
The first three songs played were from the new album, “Knockers”, “One Way Ticket” and “Is it just me?” It was clear right from the beginning that this was going to be a fantastic show.
Next they went into a series of songs from ‘Permission to land’. Nearly the whole album was played, every song apart from “Stuck in a rut” and “Holding my own”. It was a surprise to hear them play songs like “Black Shuck” and “Givin’ Up” I was glad they played them, it made my night.
All four band members were on full form that night. Ed’s drumming has gotten so much better and he is so full of energy, this was shown best in the performance of “Love on the rocks”. Richie fits right in with the band, I was blown away when it came time for the “Ac/dc” covers, I had no idea that his voice was that good.
Dan, hidden behind a mass of hair, was amazing. His guitarist skills have always blown me away, but to see him on stage playing guitar did actually bring me to tears.
Justin’s voice is better than ever! He really is a true performer. I especially loved his voice during the performance of ‘Blind Man’. That song was an un-expected surprise for me, at first I wasn’t into it live, but then they completely changed the song towards the end adding in guitars and drums making it truly one of the best performed songs of the night, apart from a small stuff up that Justin made, it wouldn’t have been noticeable if he hadn’t have pointed it out, as a true performer does he laughed it off saying “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”
The other songs played from the new album were “English Country Garden”, “Seemed like a good idea”, “Hazel Eyes”, “Girlfriend” and “Bald” which was the closing song of the night. It was a nice mixture of the old and new throughout the night, making for one wicked show.
During “Bald” Justin got off the stage and onto a security guards shoulders and did a walk through the crowd whilst playing his guitar. It took me awhile to figure out where he had gone though as I kept looking at the stage wondering where the hell Justin had disappeared to, but soon enough I turned around to see him in the audience.
The only downer of the night was the volume of the audience being far to quiet, Justin mentioned at various points throughout the night that we weren’t loud enough, and I can agree with him, I would like to think I was one of the louder ones though as I didn’t shut up the whole night. However towards the end of the show the crowd had taken the hint and increased the volume.
The whole show was a success, performance wise everything was perfect, sound wise, perfect, Bring on the next Darkness show I say.