The Darkness - Usher Hall, Edinburgh 18.03.2025

It’s impossible to write a review of the Darkness without mentioning the word entertainment, Justin and the band personify and define the word as a rock and roll band. They don’t just turn up and play music, they engage properly with the crowd, and they put on a show but more of that later.

The support act were Ash, often a headliner in their own right, they were a top notch support and the fact that the crowd was pretty much all there for their support slot tells you that many of the crowd would agree that they were as good as it gets as a support.

The boys, well maybe not so much boys anymore (sorry), from Northern Ireland, who admitted they’d never played the Usher Hall before were clearly impressed by the venue. They put on a top notch show. Getting the crowd properly warmed up before the main act. I suspect some of the crowd were surprised with just how heavy they were at times, but they interspersed their heavier songs with their classis such as 'Girl From Mars', 'Burn Baby Burn', 'Angel Interceptor', 'Shining Light' and their cover of Harry Belafonte’s classic 'Jump In The Line'. Tim still has the boyish charm he always had, and his vocal ability hasn’t faded. They were excellent and by the time they were finished it was obvious this was going to be a tremendous night.

Many of the crowd had made an effort to dress up for the evening, some being serious in their choice of clothing, but many were clearly there to have a good time. There were gold lame jackets, silver jackets, massive wigs and cowboy hats and that’s just the people I was with, all of whom had made more effort than I had.

Out strode the Darkness just after 9, nobody owns a stage in quite the same way Justin did and he made it clear from the off he wanted a fully engaged crowd, telling us there hadn’t been enough celebration of his 50th birthday the previous show in York so he was extending it to this show as well. There were impromptu renditions of happy birthday, there were renditions he started and there were sing alongs, synchronised clapping and mass jump abouts. In other words, full on party mayhem.

Particular highlights for me were the opener, 'Rock and Roll Party Cowboy',  'Get Your Hands Off My Woman', 'Walking Through Fire', 'The Longest Kiss' and 'Love On The Rocks With No Ice'.

I haven’t mentioned the song you might expect yet but that’s only because Justin stopped the show and made a request to the audience, when they played 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' he wanted us all to be in the moment, to put away our phones, not to film it but to go full on party mode and go mental to it. It was a brilliant idea and it worked, during the song and the prelude of a bit of 'Kashmir', I only saw one person take their phone out, I saw lots of people jumping, lots dancing, pretty much everyone singing their heads off and a level of mad behaviour I’ve not seen in a long time (I include myself in that, I don’t think I’ve pogoed so much or so long in a long while). It was a mass mindfulness moment of people just forgetting everything and losing themselves in the song and it was brilliant!

Other highlights of the night including Justin going past me on a roadies shoulders while playing guitar over his head, the flowers being thrown on stage, Justin proving he has football skills you wouldn’t expect, the (now) traditional Justin clapping along with the crowd with his legs while doing a hand stand and the drummer giving an excellent vocal performance.

People wandered onto stage dressed in weird costumes, there was some top quality axe shredding , plenty of banter from the stage and just one of the most entertaining nights the Usher Hall has seen in a long time, the whole crowd left on a high and rightly so, both bands are entertainers but the Darkness take it to a new level.

If you haven’t seen the Darkness shame on you, they are born entertainers, they are fantastic musicians and, all being well, they will soon be chart stars again (you had to be there to understand that last part). Go seem them, go enjoy them and leave with a big smile on your face.

The Darkness

Ash

Review - Iain McClay