And look who else is back . . .

Tuesday 15th March 2011

They’re back . . .

. . . today yielded the return of The Darkness, taking their place as sub-headliners to the mighty Def Leppard on the Friday night of this years Download Festival. After going on hiatus in 2006, there has been some talk around for a while now that they were due to return to the fold, and bring their retro glam rock back to the masses.

I for one am stoked. I loved The Darkness back in the day, and that first album, is just a stone-cold classic, Sure there second record got panned by the fans and critics alike, but it is refreshing to see them back again. No-one else in the current scene does anything like this at all, and they are back to take their retro rock crown.

Sure they may have fallen apart when the drugs and the fame came knocking (they did go from nowhere to the top of the game in an insanely short amount of time), but they were always a brilliant band in the live environment. And what is just as important, they have the songs!

Pretty much everything off that first record was essential at the time of release. The hits are there in abundance, and I for one will be down the front singing my lungs off for the likes of I Believe In A Thing Called Love, Friday Night, Growing On Me . . . (or am I growing on yoooouuuu???), Get Your Hands Offa Ma Woman . . . I could go on!

The quite simply had hits by the bucketload, and at the time (and probably still even now) there is just nobody around quite like The Darkness. They were a throwback todays gone by, and their incredible songs, along with impressive technical ability saw them head straight to the top, even headlining Leeds Festival in 2004, off the back of their debut offering. They even managed to headline the now defunct London Astoria, before they had even been signed, which was practically unheard of back then.

I saw them on their headline run in December 2004 at the NEC Arena, and they were just a sight to behold. Technically impressive, they were a real juggernaut. That should have camp theatrics, great tunes, and some insane costumes and pyro.

I am sure that they will go down a storm at Donington, and hopefully they will still be as tight as they were. Justin Hawkins had a crazy penchant for insane catsuits back in the day, and his falsetto vocals were second to none. I wonder if there will be more of the same this time round? Rumour has it that a third album is on the cards, and I for one, will look forward to hearing it.

But for now, let’s get back to the classics and rock out like it is 2004 again. A great booking for Download, and I for one am glad to have them back.

(But, and this is a big but, Justin does NEED to get rid of that ridiculous handlebar ‘stache by June – someone take a razor to it for god sakes!)