Photos and Review by Bethany Anna Packer
The Darkness Photos HERE
Jennie Vee Photos HERE
On the first of November, The Darkness landed at the House of Blues Boston on Landsdowne St. for their final stop on their 2015 U.S. tour. It was my first time seeing them live and I was prepped with promises of a show full of energy and antics.
The show opener was blonde beauty Jennie Vee and her mostly female band.
The multi-talented bombshell has been referred to as “Courtney Love’s muse” and it is easy to see why. As the two have worked together on projects in the past, Jennie Lee is very reminiscent of a younger Courtney. Beauty and talent poured on the stage in true rock and roll form.
There was a longer than anticipated set break before the Darkness took the stage and by the time they emerged, the crowd of fans was hungry with anticipation. The venue was not nearly as crowded as I had expected… However, every person in attendance was a tried and true fan of the Hawkins brothers and The Darkness.
Lead singer Justin Hawkins exudes ‘rock star’. He is everything that you picture when you hear the term. Thin, tattooed, eccentric and energetic. He dazzled with not only his unbelievably wide vocal range and mesmerizing guitar solos, but he is a legitimate performer.
Throughout the set, members of the band did not turn down the energy for even a moment. They were constantly jumping, spinning, moving and interacting with the crowd and I got quite the workout as I chased the action with my camera. Lead Justin was a constant source of entertainment throughout the set. He shed one article of clothing at a time as the group performed tunes from their new album such as “Mudslide” and “Roaring Waters”. They in turn delighted us with older favorites like “Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman” and “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” that had the crowd singing the lyrics and dancing along. By the end of the set, Justin was down to only his striped trousers (jacket, shirt and suspenders down for the count) soaked in sweat from head to toe.
The band left the stage to a still hungry crowd yelling “encore” before they were even out of sight. After a few long minutes the band returned and Justin, re-clothed in a Thin Lizzy tee-shirt addressed the crowd and asked for suggestions on how they should end their US tour with a bang. After screams of “I LOVE YOU”s and “Play The Last Song Naked”s, the singer took things into his own hands. He climbed down from the stage and onto the shoulders of a fan sporting a The Darkness Shirt. He played his guitar as he rode the man throughout the crowd while playing “Street Spirit”. After a trip through the venue, he rode the lucky fan back onto the stage and continued to talk and sing to the audience from atop his shoulders.
I would say that The Darkness surely wrapped up their tour in true rock and roll form, and what better place than in Boston. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the show and look forward to see what The Darkness has in store for us in the future.
The Darkness at the House of Blues – Boston, MA
