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The Darkness are reigniting their fire

The Darkness/ RavenEye
The Historic Rialto Theatre
Tucson, AZ
April 17. 2016
The Darkness The Darkness The Darkness

Review and photos by Mary Andrews

British imports, The Darkness, are headlining their "Back to The USSA" tour igniting their popularity in the US and promoting their latest album release, The Last of Our Kind. Diehard fans were there to greet the foursome and some had traveled from Phoenix to see their favorite rockers perform live!

The Darkness has enjoyed superstardom in the UK and Europe over the years since 2003. They have two multi-platinum albums under their belt. However, there was a break in the band's career for approximately six years. They reassembled in 2012 and have been delighting audiences since.

The opening act, RavenEye, deserve a shout out before I get too involved with The Darkness. RavenEye is another UK band and it was a perfect match to warm up the audience for The Darkness. RavenEye consist of bluesman Oli Brown on guitar and vocals, Aaron Spiers on bass, and Kev Hickman on drums. They have been on the road supporting Slash, Deep Purple and Joe Satriani since forming in 2014. Their 45-minute set was a crazy rollick with all three members giving everything they had to get the fans jumping, hollering and having an all round good time. This is definitely a band to watch!

Justin Hawkins (vocals, guitar), Dan Hawkins (guitar), Frankie Poullain (bass) and Rufus Taylor (drums) strutted on the stage ready to unleash a ear-ringing, eye-popping and robust show bound to please any rock fan. Even though Justin dominated the act, all of the band members were there to dazzle the crowd with their stage antics. Justin does everything he can to make the fans a part of the show and the fans reciprocated! It was a symbiosis at its best.

Justin was dressed in red and grey striped pants, and a red shinny rayon shirt that was scantily buttoned, embellished with a black and blue scarf. It wasn't long before the shirt had been removed to reveal multiple colorful tattoos on his skin. Justin was not too shy to reach out into the audience to get close to the fans. Justin has the stage persona much like Steven Tyler or Mick Jagger.

There are lots of lights in the background that were used for various purposes. During the song, "Every Inch of You," the lights flashed some select four-letter words. Guess you will have to catch the rest of the tour to find out just what words were used (or sneak a peek at the photos here). The set consisted of a good smathering of all of their hit songs since their inception.

Both bands put on a ridiculously good rock show where everyone had a great fucking time! The tour travels to the Eastern part of the US from here and continues through the first week of May. Catch them if you can. It's well worth it. Reply, Reply All or Forward | More Click to Reply, Reply All or Forward Send Brighten your day.
Selist:
1. Barbarian
2. Growing on Me
3. Mudslide
4. Black Shuck
5. Roaring Waters
6. Givin' Up
7. One Way Ticket
8. Love Is Only a Feeling
9. Friday Night
10. English Country Garden
11. Every Inch of You
12. Get Your Hands Off My Woman
13. Stuck in a Rut
14. I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Encore:
15. Concrete
16. Love on the Rocks With No Ice
The Darkness
The Darkness The Darkness
The Darkness The Darkness
RavenEye
RavenEye
RavenEye
RavenEye
RavenEye
RavenEye

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