The Darkness & Push Push – Powerstation April 20, 2017

 

Auckland rock fans celebrated the return of The Darkness with, what looked like, a sold-out show at The Powerstation. The reconstituted band returned the favour celebrating the power and the glory and the ridiculousness that is rock and roll.

Let’s face it, its hard to take The Darkness seriously.

Their sound is a mash of Zeppelin/Glam/AC/DC riff while front man Justin Hawkins struts, poses and screams like Freddie Mercury on steroids. Even his outfit, a one piece costume revealing a bare chest, looks like something stolen from the back of Freddie’s closet.

As such, The Darkness would be a joke…except they, and their fans, are in on it.

They know exactly what they are doing, and judging by what I saw at The Powerstation last night, they do it very well.

Close your eyes and you swear your listening to some crunching riff from Physical Graffiti or Highway To Hell. Open them, and you might think you’re in the presence of Robert Plant or Freddie Mercury.

Justin Hawkins and his kid brother, guitarist Dan Hawkins, play the retro rock thing up to the hilt…striking poses that would make Spinal Tap blush while all along rocking loud and hard. At one point bassist Frankie Poullain whipped out a large cowbell and banged away with wild abandon.

To emphasis the Queen connection, they even have a bit of the band’s DNA with them…drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor is the son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor.

Songwise, the band mixed the old with the new…they played almost every track from their 2003 debut album, Permission To Land, while showcasing three or four tunes from their upcoming new album, due in September.

Whether they were old or new, the songs sounded like they belonged in some classic rock playlist alongside Ziggy-era Bowie, The Sweet, T-Rex, Zeppelin and Queen.

Justin was a total showman and show off, doing whatever it takes to entertain the crowd…from standing on his head on the drum platform to stripping off the top of his outfit to trying on articles of clothing thrown on the stage but the crowd.

During the encore, he rode around the main floor of the Powerstation on the back of a roadie while wailing away on his guitar.

The crowd lapped it up…and why not? This was as close as most of them would get to what they probably imagined the great, lumbering rock giants of the 70s sounded and looked like live.

The addition of the reunited Push Push to the bill was a small stroke of genius. Mikey Havoc and his crew don’t take themselves too seriously either.

The looked and sounded like they were having a ball. Their lack of stage experience caught up with them when they were forced to wait while a malfunctioning computer was made to behave…leaving both band and audience silent for a few moments. But other than that, a good time was had, and they left the stage trippin’.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

The Darkness set list:

1. Black Shuck
2. Growing On Me
3. All The Pretty Girls
4. Givin’ Up
5. Roaring Waters
6. One Way Ticket
7. Every Inch Of You
8. Love Is Only A Feeling
9. Friday Night
10. Barbarian
11. Buccaneers Of Hispaniola
12. Mudslide
13. Solid Gold
14. Get Your Hands Off My Woman
15. Stuck In A Rut
16. I Believe In A Thing Called Love
17. Japanese Prisoner Of Love
18. Love On The Rocks With No Ice