The Darkness have fully owned the whole rawk schtick since day one, from the catsuits to the solos to the double entendres. To use an entirely overused reference, they started at 11 and went from there. The band’s 2003 debut, Permission to Land, is a glorious embodiment of all that, with wonderful pop songs wrapped in all the ridiculousness possible.
The band managed to survive the other excessive rock n’ roll lifestyle trappings — their second album nearly killed frontman Justin Hawkins — and have now made seven albums, but Permission to Land remains their pinnacle. For its 20th anniversary, they’ve taken it on tour for what is an extremely satisfying, gloriously stupid set that delivers everything you’d want from a Darkness show, and more, because that’s The Darkness’ way.
Given all that happened in their early days, Justin Hawkins is remarkably well preserved. Now sober, vegan and a successful podcaster/YouTuber, Hawkins still fits into the catsuit, a zebra-striped number that hides nothing and comes partially off halfway through the show, and most importantly his voice is still intact. Permission to Land has a very high falsetto count and Hawkins can still hit all the notes on the songs which he has noted are still performed in their original keys. He’s not doing the flying splits he did 20 years ago, but at the band’s Terminal 5 show on Wednesday night, “Get Your Hands Off of My Woman” ended with him doing a headstand with leg-kicks on the drum riser which he vaults off of.
All of Permission to Land was played at T5 but not exactly in order, with some of the band’s great b-sides from the era — like “The Best of Me,” “Making Out,” and the decidedly proggy “Curse of the Tollund Man” (with Hawkins on mellotron) interspersed with the hits. They also played their cover of Radiohead’s “Street Spirit (Fade Out),” which Hawkins introduced by asking the crowd, “Are you ready for some old school heavy metal?” Their version, which they’ve played live since the early days, turns The Bends classic into an Iron Maiden song which they then segue seamlessly into masturbation power ballad “I’m Holding My Own.”
The main set ended with “Friday Night,” which is the best Pulp song Jarvis Cocker never wrote, and then their biggest hit, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” which Hawkins asked the crowd to put their phones away for and just bounce. Which they (mostly) did.
The band came back for the encore, hilariously, in robes, to perform drippy slow jam “I Love You 5 Times,” with most of the band members switching places. Anyone who’s seen The Darkness over the last 20 years knew what was next. “This is the last song,” Justin said, “but first, the full version of ‘American Pie.'” Which was clearly an off-the-cuff joke, but then they started playing it, with Hawkins cutting off before his brother Dan launched in the opening riff of “Love on the Rocks With No Ice,” which features some of Hawkins’ most histrionic falsettoing as well as an epic solo played on the shoulders of a roadie who leads him through the crowd. I saw them do this when The Darkness played Bowery Ballroom in 2003 when they were first promoting Permission to Land and it remains an awesome way to finish an incredible show.
A few couple random notes:
- Justin Hawkins spotted a fan in the crowd wearing a Hawaiian shirt made from Queen’s Hot Space album cover, which he asked to borrow. The fan obliged, and Hawkins put it on, saying, “sorry you’ll never get this back.” He wore it for a couple songs before returning it.
- Paris Monster opened (I missed them) but Hawkins really talked them up at one point, thanking them for playing and then leading the crowd in a happy birthday singalong to the duo’s Josh Dion.
- While I liked the way they split up the album with other tracks in general, I do wish they’d kept the one-two punch of “Givin’ Up” and “Stuck in a Rut,” which flow seamlessly into one another on the album. I also wish we’d gotten the full version of “I’m Holding My Own,” but the medley with “Street Spirit” was great.
See photos from the night by Mathieu Bredeau, fan-shot video and the Terminal 5 setlist, below.
SETLIST: The Darkness @ Terminal 5 10/18/2023
Black Shuck
Get Your Hands Off My Woman
Growing on Me
The Best of Me
Makin’ Out
Givin’ Up
Love Is Only a Feeling
Curse of the Tollund Man
Stuck in a Rut
How Dare You Call This Love?
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Holding My Own
Friday Night
I Believe in a Thing Called Love
Encore:
I Love You 5 Times
Love on the Rocks With No Ice (preceded by impromptu jam of Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’)