LIVE: The Darkness with The Southern River Band – Perth, 11 March, 2020

Shane | 12 March 2020 | Reply

LIVE: The Darkness with The Southern River Band – Perth, 11 March, 2020
Metropolis Fremantle, Western Australia
Review and photography by Damien Crocker

Out on tour in support of their latest release Easter is Cancelled, the Darkness hit Perth to kick off the six date Australia/New Zealand leg of their world tour.

Locals The Southern River Band set a cracking pace to get the night going, but really, you wouldn’t expect anything less from them. Their high energy, bluesy rock, combined with frontman Cal Kramer’s humorous banter and over the top showmanship always guaranteeing a good time and creates the perfect lead in to tonight’s OTT headliners.

[Show picture list]

“On a mission to lead us to the sunlit uplands of inclusivity, togetherness and rock’ n’ roll fellowship”, The Darkness must almost be able to qualify for Australian citizenship given that this is the third time the band has visited our shores in almost 5 years. They seem to like us, and with barely any room to move at Metropolis Fremantle, we sure seem to like them. Reputation-wise their previous shows set a lofty standard, and one song in and it is pretty easy to see why.

With the band taking to the stage all clad in white, frontman Justin Hawkins was the last to emerge in a characteristically over the top outfit, launching into Rock and Roll Deserves to Die, the opener from their new album. Flanked by brother Dan on Guitar and Frankie Poullain on bass, they worked their way through Easter is Cancelled, with the Fremantle crowd already seeming more than familiar with the new material. For album closer Guitar Men, Hawkins came out solo with only an acoustic guitar and a black bra (kindly supplied from the audience) slung across his shoulder, really showing off his vocal range as he hit the high notes.

After a brief interlude and some outfit changes, a darker colour scheme heralded the second half of the set, featuring tracks from their previous five albums. One Way Ticket, Barbarian, Japanese Prisoner of Love and Solid Gold were among the highlights from their back catalog, with the gathered mass lapping up every moment. Musicianship across the band is top notch, but special mention has to go to Rufus Tiger Taylor, hidden away behind a big kit. He is a machine on the drums, giving his old man (who was only in town a few weeks ago) a solid run for his money.

[Show picture list]

The banter was free flowing but they kept things moving, after some crowd surfing, headstands on the drum riser and other theatrics, it was clear that there was one song that everyone had been waiting for, and after teasing with a few short bursts of the main riff, the band closed with their biggest hit, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, bringing a big roar from the crowd and pushing the intensity in room off the scale.

Everything about The Darkness live show is big – big riffs, big, big moves and Hawkins’ big, big, big notes. It’s extravagant, flamboyant, flashy and a whole lot of fun. With the audience feeding off the energy on stage, it’s been a while since I have seen this level of response from the floor, this this was big stadium energy compressed into a much smaller venue, like a pressure cooker it was ready to blow.