The Darkness

[Mr Grimsdale]

Originally posted by High Life Man
As posted at DDLR.COM:

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH!

how big are those venues?

less than 1000?

[flappo]

1000 what?

fleas
yes and no

[High Life Man]

Originally posted by Mr Grimsdale
how big are those venues?

less than 1000?

I know the Eagles Ballroom is pretty big. A few thousand. I saw Coldplay and Tenacious D there and both were sold out.

[S.P.G]

The darkness' permission to land is a brilliant debut album, but not a patch on van halen 1. Get your hands off of my woman mother f*cker is great. I love them, but have they got staying power?

[S.P.G]

check out www.thedarknessrock.com
you can view their videos!

[flappo]

..i like the links page

..brett does anyway

[Leandro Pujiz]

The best band of 2003...and will be the best band of 2004....

The Darkness Rocks!!!

[Mr Grimsdale]

growing on me (live), an interview and other stuffhttp://uk.launch.yahoo.com/darkness/

[Mr Grimsdale]

anyone else seen their new video for Love Is Only A Feeling?

it's like 1989 all over again, shot on this mountain top in australia
fookin' ace, i nearly came over cat deeley too early on saturday morning

i said nearly

[Golden AWe]

Originally posted by Mr Grimsdale
i nearly came over cat deeley too early on saturday morning

i said nearly

you mean "got over"?

[Mr Grimsdale]

Justin to model next catsuit on Geri's mini dress

Justin to model next catsuit on Geri's mini dress

Justin Hawkins says his next stage outfit will be a Union Jack catsuit - inspired by the Spice Girls.

The Darkness singer told The Sun that the Union Jack mini dress Geri Halliwell wore to the 1997 Brits had inspired him.

Justin, whose band lead the way at tonight's Brit awards with four nominations, said: "Apparently we're the fastest growing Brit band in the States since the Spice Girls. Maybe Geri's dress may prove an inspiration.

"My stage wardrobe is getting a really big shake-up this year and there's a few things up my sleeve. I'm going in really hard on the catsuit thing.

"I might fly the flag for the country and get myself a Union Jack catsuit for our trip to America this year."

Story filed: 08:50 Tuesday 17th February 2004

[Panamark]

Darkness lighten up rock music


AP - Retro rockers The Darkness want to lighten up rock music.

So far the London-based band appears to be succeeding with Permission to Land, their Atlantic Records debut CD inspired by '70s and '80s rockers. It features a peculiar mix of songs, about a mythological hellhound, a lover's spat and genital warts.

"We don't do generic music," said bassist Frankie Poullain during a recent interview.

Critics have compared The Darkness and its act to the fictional '80s hair band in the movie parody This Is Spinal Tap.

It's an easy comparison when you take into account Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins' voice, his plunging, chest-baring catsuit and, well, big hair. Then there's the music, a throwback to arena rock, and their over-the-top stage show complete with David Lee Roth-like leg splits.





Fans, among them British Prime Minister Tony Blair, have been snapping up thousands of copies of the album since its US release in September.

It's No 43 on the latest Billboard magazine album chart.

"Many people are calling them a throwback ... to the Led Zeppelin era. But for today, they are wildly unique," said Ron Shapiro, the Atlantic Records co-president who oversees marketing, sales and promotional efforts.

"Part of the fun with The Darkness is the debate: Can it be fun and funny and be legitimate and serious? The Darkness is the answer to that," he said.

Already a hit in England, the band's single I Believe In A Thing Called Love has begun heavy radio rotation in the United States. Its music video - punctuated by laser shooting guitars, a giant crab and a furry monster - also has earned regular play on music television channels.

Although the music may be light, the band is serious about its act.

The people making Spinal Tap comparisons "don't know what we're about," said Hawkins, 28.

"We're not some made up band," Hawkins said. "We write our own songs. We perform our own songs."

The Darkness got its start from the ashes of Empire, a rock band fronted by Hawkins' brother, guitarist Dan Hawkins, and included Hawkins and Poullain.

But Empire fell almost as soon as it was raised.

On New Year's Eve 1999, Justin Hawkins was performing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody as part of a karaoke contest when his brother struck on the idea of putting Justin up front. They were soon joined by drummer Ed Graham, 26, and Poullain, 33.

The four chose the name The Darkness because they said it was the opposite of what the music was about - good-time rock.

The band's choice of music was a natural for the four of them, who came of age listening to Queen, AC-DC, Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden.

"With today's music, it's cool to complain and feel sorry for yourself. I can't stand it," Poullain said. "I want to have a good time when I listen to music."

The band says its lyrics are intentionally laced with humour and irony, such as Love On the Rocks With No Ice, but they are songs people can understand. There are no political messages, no double meanings, no questions.

"That's really the art form, isn't it? The songs are a bit timeless," said Justin Hawkins.

The brothers also said they knew what they wanted from the beginning with The Darkness - a focus on showmanship.

For the band, image is everything.

"Who wants to watch some bloke stand there in jeans and a T-shirt and just sing? Your image is your ambition," Hawkins said.

But why catsuits?

"I like catsuits," Hawkins said simply.

By 2002, the band was making so much noise record executives started to listen. The Darkness, which released an EP in 2002, opened on tours for Metallica, Alice Cooper and Def Leppard before releasing their debut album.

Even while seriously discussing themselves, the band members were, well, funny.

"There are bands that are all icing and no cake. We are the cake that gives you icing," said Dan Hawkins, 26.

Graham chimed in: "And we're not cheesecake either."

The debate continued: Carrot Cake. No, chocolate cake. No, rum cake.

Somewhere The Darkness may still debating the answer.

[Mr Grimsdale]

The Darkness take on the world

The Darkness take on the world

The last 12 months have seen British rock band The Darkness shoot to fame in the UK, with four nominations for Tuesday's Brit Awards.
They have sold 1.2 million copies of their debut album, Permission To Land, in the UK - and almost one million elsewhere around the globe. BBC News Online looks at how they have been received in five countries.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Permission To Land has been hovering just inside the US top 50 for several weeks, with sales of 400,000. It is doing well, but by no means taking the country by storm.

But the band have only recently begun their onslaught on the American market, creating a buzz with an appearance on the David Letterman talk show and making the cover of music magazine Spin as one of "the next big things".

In January, the New York Daily News' Jim Farber wrote: "For a while, it looked like the attempt by the Darkness to revive the mousse-metal of '80s bands like Winger and White Lion would threaten only Europe.

"But now the scourge is spreading Stateside - and fast. As a result, the group is the first major breakout act of 2004."

The group have already sold out concerts in Illinois and Ohio six weeks before the start of their US tour. They will need to win over the middle American audiences if they are to do what Oasis and Robbie Williams could not achieve - crack the US market.

GERMANY
Markus Kavka , MTV Germany news presenter:
"They're getting bigger and bigger - they started their tour over here on Thursday and the shows are sold out.

"We played the video right from the beginning - it took people a while to get into it. We've played them five or six times a day so everybody who watches MTV knows The Darkness.

"People with long hair say they're great, and then there's the average pop listener who likes them too, adding that they're funny.

"There's definitely a big metal community over here and at first I thought they were looking at The Darkness as a band being not very genuine - too jokey, too humorous - but they're being taken quite seriously right now."

SOUTH AFRICA
Stephen "Sugar" Segerman, editor of SA Rock Digest:
"The hip dudes in South Africa know about The Darkness and the young guys who are getting into rock are very interested because - like in Britain - it's a new sound.


The Darkness are currently touring Europe and the US
"It doesn't feel like it's as big here yet as it is overseas. But with the right push and a bit of radio play, The Darkness could sell just as many as anybody.

"I think The Darkness is going to become much bigger later on because it takes a while to break through. I think it's a sleeper - I think it's going to take a while before it creeps through here.

"It would be nice if they came and toured here - which is obviously not going to happen - because their live act just blows everybody away, apparently. We're not a big band destination here."

LEBANON
Dany Hrdan, assistant music director of Radio One:
"They are not popular in Lebanon. I've heard of them and we've heard of their songs because I'm in the music business - but people, they don't know them.

"In general, both Arabic and English music is popular. Mariah Carey is coming to Lebanon this month, so big names are very popular here.

"Rock music is also popular - we have a lot of fans of alternative music like Blink-182."

POLAND
Milosz Habura, editor of Nuta music magazine:
"Their Christmas single was really high and you couldn't walk down the street without hearing The Darkness and Don't Let The Bells End. It was really hot and played on many radio stations here.

"I wouldn't say they were the most popular band over here, but there's a lot of sympathy and a lot of good vibes around the music.

"They're attracting people because of their funny image and returning to the 1980s - people are really bored here also with the nu-metal bands and other pretty boring music stuff.

"It's not that the band are unnoticed, but it's not the biggest commercial success in Poland, that's for sure."

[flappo]

..so i take it grimsdale quite likes the darkness then ?

[Mr Grimsdale]

i wear my unitard on the jubilee line every morning
the security guards at canary wharf have got quite used it

today, i taste like rice pudding