7 February 2024 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
The Darkness have been a band I have had an interesting time with. Permission to Land was a record I adored when it first released, and outside of the album Hot Cakes, I just haven’t been able to get into the groove of the band. I’ve heard they’ve always been tight live, so hearing they were coming back to Australia, and also playing Permission to Land live in full, I couldn’t pass up the chance to check it out. And this tour was packed to the gills with talent, including a Spinal Tap cover set from Australian rock icons You Am I, local legends DZ Deathrays, and Melbourne based, queer pop punk duo, Cry Club.
Despite a small early crowd, opening band Cry Club put on an entertaining show. The set felt super quick, and I really enjoyed them. The section I was standing in clapped along to every bit of crowd participation lead singer Heather Riley and guitarist Jono Tooke threw at us, and you could tell they were both having a ball of fun. There were a couple of stand out songs, but the most entertaining song of the night was probably the one with the most serious message. ‘DMFT’ is basically a song about respecting boundaries, but there was something infectious about the melody that turned a serious message into something that could be conveyed in a fun way.
Cry Club – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Bec Harbour
It’s been a long time between shows for me and DZ Deathrays. I’ve only ever caught them three times. Opening for Foo Fighters in 2011 and 2018, and the third time was the Bloodstreams album launch at The Zoo in 2012, which was a killer night. Seeing how DZ have evolved into a four piece live act, they fill out their sound with four members, and shows the longevity of these guys. The crowd were going nuts for songs like oldies like ‘Ocean Exploder’, as much as they were for newer stuff like ‘Paranoid’. These guys continue to impress, and I hope bigger things are on the horizon for them. Also, their walk out song was utter hilarity, it was a song about Brisbane landmarks, done really poorly on purpose. Everyone around me was cracking up laughing throughout the song.
DZ Deathrays – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Bec Harbour
Up next were You Am I, and I’ll be honest, I never thought they would be a band I would see live. So seeing them do a Spinal Tap set as my first exposure to them live, was an absolute trip. Adorned in some of the most ridiculous costumes of the night, including leg warmers, kilts, and viking helmets, Tim Rogers led the show with his best David St. Hubbins impression, as he guided the crowd and the band through a 10 song set, including classics like set opener ‘Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight’, ‘Rock and Roll Creation’, ‘Sex Farm’, ‘Hell Hole’, and ‘Stonehenge’, and even giving us another taste of ‘Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight’ again at the end. The set was super fun. The crowd loved it, and I think I’m gonna have to look further into the You Am I catalog, especially if their regular shows are this kind of fun.
You Am I – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Bec Harbour
After what seemed like a lengthy delay, Rufus Tiger Taylor, Frankie Poullain, and Dan Hawkins walked onto stage to kick into set opener, ‘Black Shuck’. Lead singer Justin Hawkins rolled out right in time for the vocals to start, and the crowd was loud for the chorus. I actually don’t think the band were expecting the vocal reaction, because at times throughout the first few songs, Justin seemed kinda thrown off at the reaction to some of the songs. Before jumping onto the sets second song, Justin did “the speech”, as he liked to call it, imploring everyone to put their phones away and live in the moment. The man said some stuff I won’t throw into the review, but I forgot how much this man loves all of his four letter swear words.
The Darkness – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Bec Harbour
As much as this was a show celebrating the anniversary of the bands debut record, Permission to Land, the show was littered with some deep cuts in the catalog, including some B-Sides I never ever EVER thought I would see live. ‘Songs like The Best of Me’, ‘Makin’ Out’, ‘How Dare You Call This Love?’, and even ‘I Love You Five Times’ (which was part of the encore) were thrown into the show, as well as some covers (which I will get to), and every single song from the original pressing of Permission to Land.
One of my personal highlights for the night though, was when we got ‘Love Is Only A Feeling’. This, by my own personal and ridiculous standards, is the best song from The Darkness, and probably one of my favorite songs, ever. It’s a song that has stayed with me for 20 years. So finally being able to hear it live for the first time felt special. What I didn’t expect, is that at the start of the song, Justin, Dan, and Frankie all stood on stage, and instructed the crowd in unison to clap to Taylor’s opening drum beat of the song. Just writing this now gives me chills, because in that same moment, I don’t know why, but I got the feeling that this is the closest I will probably ever get to seeing Queen live. That’s just the energy it felt it had. Two thousand people in that room, all locked in to that one song, as if it was ‘We Will Rock You’. That is something that will stay with me, forever.
The Darkness – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Bec Harbour
Another interesting thing about the night, was there were some covers also thrown in throughout the night. They covered ‘Street Spirit’ by Radiohead, which was a complete surprise but not really as Johnny Greenwood has been on Justin’s podcast several times, as well as ‘Immigrant Song’ by Led Zeppelin, which the crowd absolutely loved. What was mental though, was hearing the ending of ‘Immigrant Song’ bleed into the set closer, ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’. The song did gangbusters in Australia when it was released, so hearing the entire Fortitude Music Hall go nuts for it, just made the most sense. What was a little frustrating however, was what happened after the song. As the band were preparing for the encore, I was standing at the back of the venue, and the amount of people that left after ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ was super disappointing. There was clearly more show to play, and those that left after hearing “the big hit” missed probably the coolest moment of the night.
The Darkness – Fortitude Music Hall – photos by Bec Harbour
Rufus, Dan, Frankie, and Justin walked back out on stage, looking a little… different. Gone were the throwback bodysuits and clothes, and instead, all four members of the band were dressing in sleepwear, and silk robes. Not only that, but Frankie, who plays bass, was given an acoustic guitar. Rufus, the drummer, was given a bass guitar, and Dan, the lead guitarist, was positioned behind the drums. The band were also joined by their long-time guitar tech, Ian, to play a couple of songs, where Justin did band introductions, before we got a hilarious cover of ‘In the Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins. All the lyrics were replaced with different ways to introduce the band. This band configuration continued for ‘I Love You Five Times’, before we got the only song left to play of the night, ‘Love on the Rocks With No Ice’. I didn’t pick this to be the show closer, this ended up being about an 8 minute long version of the song, including a 2 and a half minute spoken word stream of consciousness from Justin, talking about watching the TV show Heartbeat with his nan, before closing out with the main riff to Led Zeppelin’s ‘Heartbreaker’ to close the show. And holy hell, what a way to finish an incredible show.
