Stereoboard Tour of the Week – The Darkness - Tickets Onsale Friday June 17th
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Written by Rob Sleigh
One way ticket to Hell… and back? It certainly seemed that way five years ago, when glam rock revivalists The Darkness decided to call it a day after a mere three years in the limelight. In 2006, just a year after the release of their second album, the Suffolk-based quintet chose not to continue without their frontman Justin Hawkins, who had recently left the band amid well-publicised stories of problems relating to drink and drugs. Following a Number One album, four Top 10 singles, numerous sell-out tours and a handful of festival headline slots, all within just a few short years, it suddenly appeared that things were not all as they had seemed. The rock and roll dream was over for The Darkness, almost as abruptly as it had begun. The future of the band was discussed briefly, but it soon became obvious that The Darkness were little without their flamboyant, cat-suited, glass-cracking singer.
The band split in two – Hawkins headed off to rehab before forming a new band called Hot Leg, while his brother Dan and the rest of The Darkness founded Stone Gods, with bassist Richie Edwards taking over as frontman. Although both bands experienced some minor success, with each of their debut albums gaining chart places, it was nowhere near what they had experienced together as The Darkness.
The first few rays of hope began to shine through in late 2010, when both Hot Leg and Stone Gods announced that they would be going on hiatus. This instantly kick-started rumours that The Darkness were on their way back and suggestions that they would be returning for a huge summer festival appearance in 2011 soon became big news. Although Download Festival was one of the first events to be named as a possible setting for the band’s reunion, the festival’s promoter Andy Copping downplayed this rumour in an interview in early March. However, just a couple of weeks later, this was exposed as a cunning ruse to hide the truth, as The Darkness announced that they would indeed be playing the festival as support to headliner Def Leppard, with original bassist Frankie Poullain returning to the ranks.
And what a show it was. After a couple of warm-up dates ahead of the festival, The Darkness played an awesome set at Download and the crowd lapped it up. Despite the slight change in appearance, it was almost as if they had never been away. Justin Hawkins may have traded in his old catsuit for an equally outrageous handlebar moustache, but the original tongue-in-cheek campiness and absurdity that the band were remembered for was still all there, as were the old favourites – ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, ‘Growing On Me’, ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’. The band seemed glad to be back.
And now, following news that they’re planning to record their first new material in six years, it’s clear that they are indeed glad to be back. In November this year, The Darkness will follow their Download performance with a full 14-date UK tour, ending at London’s HMV Hammersmith Apollo.
The Darkness UK & Ireland Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue November 8th 2011 - O2 Academy Liverpool, Liverpool
Sat November 12th 2011 - O2 Academy Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Sun November 13th 2011 - Manchester Academy, Manchester
Mon November 14th 2011 - O2 Academy Bristol, Bristol
Wed November 16th 2011 - Brighton Dome, Brighton
Thu November 17th 2011 - Southampton Guildhall, Southampton
Fri November 18th 2011 - O2 Academy Birmingham, Birmingham
Sun November 20th 2011 - Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Mon November 21st 2011 - O2 Academy Sheffield, Sheffield
Tue November 22nd 2011 - Rock City, Nottingham
Thu November 24th 2011 - Norwich Uea, Norwich
Fri November 25th 2011 - HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London
Sun December 4th 2011 - Ulster Hall Belfast, Belfast
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