The Darkness formed in Lowestoft, England and tonight they are playing at the Vic Theatre in Chicago. To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of Permission to Land, they are playing the entire album.  

For the second song of the night, they play “Get Your Hands off My Woman”.  Midway into the song, there is a part where he sings “Mother” and then gestures for the audience to repeat. The lead singer, Justin Hawkins, does this a few times with different styles of singing. He then halts the song and explains that, because of his lighting engineer, he can see the crowd when they are supposed to sing. He calls out one specific audience member, Billy, who is not participating, and invites him to sing solo. Billy agrees and then proceeds to sing call and response style with Hawkins to the audience’s delight. It is moments like this that make the experience of a Darkness concert grand and form a community among the fans.

Hawkins is a master of falsetto. “Growing on Me” is an excellent showcase of this skill. It also features some sizzling guitar riffs.

He is also a great showman. A great example of this is on “Love Is Only a Feeling” as he dances all around the stage and sings with great passion. Also, during another track, he is carried through the audience while playing guitar.

Before starting “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”, he requests that audience members put away their phones and just live in the moment. He says YouTube doesn’t need any more shaky videos of the song.  It is very effective and leads to a mostly phone free grand finale to their set.

See the full setlist here.

Cost of a ticket: $49

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It+

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Quinn Delaney