Darkness Light Up Boise With Joyful Set; Justin Hawkins Lights Into Crowd Over Cell Phones
The Darkness played a gig in Boise on Saturday night, and as to be expected, the always-entertaining British rockers delivered plenty of theatrics and pleased the crowd to virtually no end.
In what appears to be the Darkness’ first-ever concert in Idaho, frontman Justin Hawkins hammed it up in front of the packed crowd at the Knitting Factory Boise. He leaned hard into the glam-rock swagger that made the band stand out from the pack of detached fashionista indie rockers in the early aughts.
To that end, the Darkness tapped heavily into their 2003 debut, Permission to Land; six of the 20 songs they played derived from that record: “Get Your Hands Off My Woman,” “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” “Growing on Me,” “Givin’ Up,” “Love Is Only a Feeling” and “Friday Night.”
In contrast, the hard-rocking quartet – which also features Hawkins’ brother, guitarist/vocalist Dan – played just four selections from their newest album, March’s Dreams on Toast: “Rock and Roll Party Cowboy,” “The Longest Kiss,” “Walking Through Fire” and the show-closing “I Hate Myself.”
As always, the highlight and main focus of the Darkness’ 90-minute performance was Justin Hawkins, a one of the best rock showmen of the 21st century and a guy who probably couldn’t do anything else in life other than front a band.
Hawkins proved that, at age 50, he’s still far more agile than most musicians half his age by pulling off the classic acrobatic move that established him as a must-see frontman at the onset of his career: During “Get Your Hands Off My Woman,” he did a headstand in front of Rufus Tiger Taylor’s drum kit and held the pose as he clapped his feet in sync with the song.
Introducing the song “Givin’ Up,” Hawkins gave fans an insight into his personal life when he recalled being unemployed in 1990s and relied on unemployment to pursue his music dreams. When he applied for benefits, he told the agent he wanted to be a “conductor,” even though he meant to say “composer,” stumbling because he shied away from revealing his true intentions to shoot for rock stardom. The agent replied, “You mean a bus conductor?” Hawkins reminisced to light laughter from the crowd.
The Darkness – rounded out by bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor – also tickled the hundreds of attendees with casually performed and sometimes partial covers of Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City,” Jennifer Rush’s “Power of Love” and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight.”
Hawkins also delighted the Knitting Factory denizens by successfully spurring a singalong and clap-along during the Darkness’ performance of “Get Your Hands Off My Woman,” the first single the band ever released. He attempted to do the same at the start of “Walking Through Fire,” but it didn’t pan out, leading the band to stop and restart the song.
They did so again during one of the more memorable moments of the night, when they began to perform their set “closer” (a two-song encore of “One Way Ticket” and “I Hate Myself” later ensued). As the Darkness began delving into “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” Hawkins stopped the song to address the crowd.
To paraphrase what he said: “People ask me if I get sick of playing this song. I don’t – but what I do get sick of are all the fucking phones in the crowd. Can you put them away for just this one song, please?”
The Darkness restarted the song’s intro. Meanwhile, rather ironically, the audience clapped in approval of his instruction while simultaneously juggling their mobiles as they tried to follow his command. But sure enough, once all but a few of the insidious devices were put away, the crowd became more excited and engaged in the band’s performance of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” than at any other point in the night.
So let’s get this straight: A crowd enjoys a concert experience more when they tuck away their phones and fully immerse themselves in a band’s live performance? Funny, that.
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