Review: The Darkness at Summit Music Hall, 2/16/12

You've yet to see crowd feedback until you've heard (and survived) the Darkness' diva crowd rocking out in full-on falsetto. (It should be noted that the night's small talk was less spectacular than its vocal range, however: At one point, Hawkins actually shouted, "Give me a D! Give me an Enver!")

If someone had approached the Darkness about a decade ago, warned the guys about their forthcoming cocaine problems, the shutdown of Napster, the rise of iTunes and a little woman named Lady Gaga and then had them cryogenically frozen, the band could not have been more on par with its original aesthetic and more loveably ignorant of its modern evolution than it was last night.

Aaron Thackeray

Justin Hawkins of the Darkness last night at Summit Music Hall. Slide show: The Darkness in Denver.

It's not all brazen badassery: About halfway through the set, Hawkins returned to the stage alone, albeit in a tophat, for a solo acoustic rendition of "Holding My Own" that was surprisingly lovely and utterly sincere. But if the audience was impressed by its band's return to peak shape, -- crotch fires still burning and all that -- the band was equally impressed with the people miserably squandering its falsetto.

After all, Denver is responsible for the band's first two bras thrown onstage during this reunion tour. After the second, an enormous hot pink affair, hit Hawkins, he finally addressed the issue. "Can I be one of you mountain folk?" he asked, all British accent and shirtless swagger. "I've got the lungs for it, haven't I?

Personal Bias: I went through a Darkness phase in high school, the highlight of which was my French teacher catching me shouting "Get your hands off my woman, motherfucker!" in my car on the way home from school. Madame Taylor was not impressed.

By The Way: The Summit might have the worst crowd small talk in Denver. Seriously, the dude (read: asshole) behind me "took a crap in the urinal just because I can."

Random Detail: Ohio rockers Foxy Shazam earned a huge wave of adoration before the Darkness took the stage and are a surprisingly adept pairing to their ridiculous counterpart. If you haven't already, check out their own more experimental take on glam rock, which they describe as "white music for black people."

The Darkness
Summit Music Hall - 2/15/12
Denver, CO

01. "Black Shuck"
02. "Growing On Me"
03. "Best Of Me"
04. "One Way Ticket"
05. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us"
06. "Get Your Hands Off My Woman"
07. "I Can't Believe It's Not Love"
08. "Holding My Own"
09. "Love is Only a Feeling"
10. "Concrete"
11. "Friday Night"
12. "Everybody's Having a Good Time"
13. "Physical Sex"
14. "Is It Just Me?"
15. "Street Spirit (Fade Out)" (Radiohead cover)
16. "She's Just a Girl, Eddie"
17. "Givin' Up"
18. "Stuck in a Rut"
19. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love"

ENCORE

20. "Bareback"
21. "Love On the Rocks With No Ice"

Location Info

Venue

Map

Summit Music Hall

1902 Blake St., Denver, CO

Category: Music

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