The Darkness shine bright in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
with support from Ash

2025-03-31

The Darkness | Glasgow Royal Concert Hall | Glasgow, SCT | 3.20.25 | Photo by: ©Kerry Steyn

Ash | Glasgow Royal Concert Hall | Glasgow, SCT | 3.20.25 | Photo by: ©Kerry Steyn

Glasgow, Scotland – The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, more akin to classical music, might seem an unusual venue for a rock band such as The Darkness to play on their latest tour to promote the new Dreams on Toast album (on Canary Dwarf and Cooking Vinyl) but as it turns out the incredible acoustics served to deliver the bands raucous rock music to perfection to the eager crowd.

Support on the night was provided by Northern Irish rock band Ash, who reminded us all what a powerhouse of rock they are. The three piece group belted out anthem after anthem, including “Kung Fu”, “Girl from Mars” and their new single “Jump in The Line”, a fantastic rock take of the Harry Belafonte song.

By this time we were ready for our main act, and The Darkness, once again, did not disappoint. They started with a bang with “Rock n’Roll Party Cowboy” from the new album and set the pace for the evening’s entertainment. “Growing on Me“ and “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” from debut album “Permission To Land” quickly followed, with the latter’s final verse changed to the first verse of their song “Welcome Tae Glasgow” as an ode to the audience.

Lead singer Justin Hawkins was in his element and his banter with the Glasgow audience all night was warmly received by the adoring crowd, and his falsetto voice is as crystal clear and powerful as ever. There were a few of the new songs on show, and these fitted into the setlist like they had always been there. The one thing about The Darkness’ music is that the production is impeccable (hats off to lead guitarist and producer Dan Hawkins), and along with bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor it’s honestly a mystery to me why they have never hit global fame with they unbelievably infectious hard glam rock music. Although there is a humour to pretty much all of their songs which may mean some don’t take them as seriously as they should, I find it really hard not to compare them with the magnificent likes of Queen, both in musicianship and in stage presence.

To hear new songs like “The Longest Kiss” (which is a perfect 70’s glam rock song) and “Walking Through Fire” being played live makes me eager to get the album on its release. Justin managed to get the crowd marching along with him on the latter song, and it was just amazing to see people beaming from ear to ear, having fun and just being swept up with the music. They saved their biggest hit till almost the end, although Justin did tease the crowd with a snippet of “Christmas Time”, their classic 2003 seasonal anthem, before launching into “I Believe In A Thing Called Love“ which met with a rapturous reception. Justin urged everyone to lower their cameras and enjoy the moment, and during the first verse when he noticed a few people weren’t taking his advice, he stopped the song for a moment. Everyone was suitably snapped to attention by that, and as the song started again it was full on party time in the hall. The show finished with a finale of “I Hate Myself” which has instantly become one of my most favourite songs by the band. It’s a full-on rock-out of a song and is sure to become another anthem for the band.

It’s not often you leave a gig and strangers are hugging and dancing even when the band has left the stage, but The Darkness really did shine a light on Glasgow that night.