Review: The Darkness, The Southern River Band at the Enmore Theatre

It was a night to remember in Sydney when headbangers were treated to one of the best new Aussie rock bands and a powerful show from The Darkness.

It was a rock ‘n’ roll night to remember at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on Sunday when headbangers were treated to an old school feast of gut-churning riffs, screeching guitar solos, falsetto vocals and spandex trousers that were far too tight.

Opening the show were Perth-based hard rockers, The Southern River Band, who proved that Australian guitar-based music is not dead.

They are certainly worth checking out if you haven’t heard them and they got the crowd moving in Sydney with a face-melting set that straddled between hard blues, ripping punk songs about smoking cigarettes and a charming number about a tradie who ended up on crack and in prison.

The Southern River Band.

The hardest headbanging was reserved for a filthy number called Chimney, which features a riff so heavy that Black Sabbath would be proud of it.

Nicely loosened up, the capacity crowd was ready for The Darkness who came out firing on all cylinders.

It was a show that featured frontman Justin Hawkins prancing around in a green leotard with a V-shaped cut down to his crotch, a “stage invader”, handstands, devastating guitar solos, threats of faces being rearranged and Freddy Mercury-style call and response sections with the audience.

All in all it was a proper rock show and the British rockers did not disappoint old school fans as they tore through almost every song on the album that made them global stars almost 20 years ago — 2003’s Permission to Land.

Hawkins may be in his late forties but he was sounding better than ever as hit some ludicrously high notes on a number of belters from the album, including Black Shug, Get Your Hands off My Woman and Growing on Me.

UK band The Darkness release album Easter is Cancelled. Picture: Simon Emmett, supplied

Interspersed between the classics were a number of newer numbers which also slapped seriously hard — but not as hard as the encore which began with a very surprising number given its only the middle of October — Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End).

The crowd were singing along like it was Christmas Eve before the Darkness closed with one of their heaviest tracks — Love On The Rocks With No Ice.

If you thought rock’n’roll was dead you’d better think again.

You can catch The Darkness at the following shows, click here for ticket info.

Tuesday, Oct 18: Kambri, Canberra

Doors 7.00pm

Support 8.00 – 8.30pm

The Darkness 9.00pm – 10.45pm

Wednesday Oct 19: Tivoli, Brisbane

Doors 7.30pm

Support 8.00 – 8.30pm

The Darkness 9.00pm – 10.45pm

Friday, Oct 21: Hunter Lounge, Wellington

Doors 7.00pm

Support 8.00 – 8.30pm

The Darkness 9.00pm – 10.45pm

Saturday, Oct 22: Powerstation, Auckland

Doors 7.00pm

Support 8.00 – 8.30pm

The Darkness 9.00pm – 10.45pm

Originally published as Review: The Darkness, The Southern River Band at the Enmore Theatre