Tweet
Here's a review of the show I was at on Friday...
...and the author actually uses 'rawk.' Fuck this douchebag.
Darkness milks classic-rock cliches, lets laughs roll with unabashed camp
By JON M. GILBERTSON
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: March 27, 2004
Friday night at the Eagles Ballroom, the Darkness came to rawk hard, loud and long. To entertain.
The UK quartet sold out the venue, but that mere bottom-line consideration wasn't proof of successful entertainment. No - that came when lead singer and guitarist Justin Hawkins joined his band onstage in vest and fringed pink chaps (under which he thoughtfully wore trousers).
As one fan noted after seeing Hawkins' outfit, "It's like Spinal Tap," and that affinity - a heavy thesaurus of classic-rock cliches, flipped through for laughs - was evident among the older portion of the crowd. For the teenagers, the attraction was probably that Hawkins and company were a fun "new" experience after years of Korn, P.O.D., Limp Bizkit and all the other angst-infected growlers.
It didn't hurt that the evening's music, as taken from the band's briskly selling debut "Permission to Land," was nothing but busy guitar solos, diabetes-inducing melodies and happy-go-lucky lyrics that, in the case of "Givin' Up," made even heroin addiction sound like a lark in the park.
Delivering those lyrics, Hawkins fully utilized his piercingly strong falsetto and elastic pitch. He also indulged a camp style equal parts vaudevillian and drag queen and shamelessly pilfered fave rawk moves and looks, including David Lee Roth's split kicks, Freddie Mercury's alarming sartorial taste (a red-striped jumpsuit?) and AC/DC guitarist Angus Young's crunchy riffs.
Although the result suggested that combining rock-icon DNA would be inadvisable, it also propelled songs such as the power ballad "Love Is Only a Feeling" and the jaunty "Friday Night" past their own limitations. Listening to "Permission to Land" gets exhausting after about three songs, but watching Hawkins flounce and banter through the same material live was amusingly pleasurable.
Hawkins wasn't so hot at momentum, particularly during the costume changes, when he left his brother and second guitarist Dan Hawkins in charge of killing time. Plus, after about 45 minutes, even the unveiling of the rarely-gets-old single "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" was like topping up a meal of cotton candy with . . . more cotton candy. Fortunately, the Darkness stopped before nausea took hold.
Another UK four-piece, the Wildhearts, was a well-chosen opening act: Like the headliner, this band was bombastic, unoriginal and a good time. Coating tight hard rock in sugary Cheap Trick harmonies, the Wildhearts also came to rawk. And did.
From the March 28, 2004 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
...and the author actually uses 'rawk.' Fuck this douchebag.
Darkness milks classic-rock cliches, lets laughs roll with unabashed camp
By JON M. GILBERTSON
Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: March 27, 2004
Friday night at the Eagles Ballroom, the Darkness came to rawk hard, loud and long. To entertain.
The UK quartet sold out the venue, but that mere bottom-line consideration wasn't proof of successful entertainment. No - that came when lead singer and guitarist Justin Hawkins joined his band onstage in vest and fringed pink chaps (under which he thoughtfully wore trousers).
As one fan noted after seeing Hawkins' outfit, "It's like Spinal Tap," and that affinity - a heavy thesaurus of classic-rock cliches, flipped through for laughs - was evident among the older portion of the crowd. For the teenagers, the attraction was probably that Hawkins and company were a fun "new" experience after years of Korn, P.O.D., Limp Bizkit and all the other angst-infected growlers.
It didn't hurt that the evening's music, as taken from the band's briskly selling debut "Permission to Land," was nothing but busy guitar solos, diabetes-inducing melodies and happy-go-lucky lyrics that, in the case of "Givin' Up," made even heroin addiction sound like a lark in the park.
Delivering those lyrics, Hawkins fully utilized his piercingly strong falsetto and elastic pitch. He also indulged a camp style equal parts vaudevillian and drag queen and shamelessly pilfered fave rawk moves and looks, including David Lee Roth's split kicks, Freddie Mercury's alarming sartorial taste (a red-striped jumpsuit?) and AC/DC guitarist Angus Young's crunchy riffs.
Although the result suggested that combining rock-icon DNA would be inadvisable, it also propelled songs such as the power ballad "Love Is Only a Feeling" and the jaunty "Friday Night" past their own limitations. Listening to "Permission to Land" gets exhausting after about three songs, but watching Hawkins flounce and banter through the same material live was amusingly pleasurable.
Hawkins wasn't so hot at momentum, particularly during the costume changes, when he left his brother and second guitarist Dan Hawkins in charge of killing time. Plus, after about 45 minutes, even the unveiling of the rarely-gets-old single "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" was like topping up a meal of cotton candy with . . . more cotton candy. Fortunately, the Darkness stopped before nausea took hold.
Another UK four-piece, the Wildhearts, was a well-chosen opening act: Like the headliner, this band was bombastic, unoriginal and a good time. Coating tight hard rock in sugary Cheap Trick harmonies, the Wildhearts also came to rawk. And did.
From the March 28, 2004 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Comment