M'Lou Elkins
Well known for their animated, energetic shows, The Darkness continued their 2022 North American Motorheart Tour in Dallas at the historic Granada Theater Sunday, April 3 in Lower Greenville, where its performance was as physical as it was euphonic.
Between drum riser headstands, progressively-scant wardrobe flips, and sensual acts with his instruments, lead singer Justin Hawkins and his current iteration of The Darkness delivered some signature charm and musicianship – the sort that has rightfully yielded over twenty years’ worth of album and showmanship prizes.
Notably, Hawkins and company are currently bringing the award-winning, platinum-selling band into its 23rd year with a new album and a series of live shows. In fact, the Motorheart album and tour come as a kind of salvation: its rabid fan base was devastated in 2020 when The Darkness world tour dates were cut short by COVID (but mildly pacified with the alternative livestream-turned-live-album “Streaming of a White Christmas”).
Fans were furthermore treated to the dynamic Dead Deads as openers, touring in support of its latest album Tell Your Girls It’s Alright. The multi-genre Dead Deads – Meta, Daisy, and McQueen – hail from Nashville and are a band to watch. The crowd loved the ever-popular trio, who have under their belts a list of tours with other heavy hitters like 10 Years, Bush, Chevelle, Halestorm, KISS, Seether, Skid Row, and Stone Sour.
As it rained guitar picks throughout the show, one landed fatefully on my backpack – making me the proud possessor of a performance-grade pick. Sublime.
But the real winners were Eric-with-a-C and Mama Hawkins.
Justin was all in with fans for the show’s entirety. Eric-with-a-C in particular impressed Justin as the loudest front-and-center The Darkness devotee. Eric-with-a-C was thusly invited onstage, where Justin proclaimed Eric-with-a-C his favorite person. Damn you, Eric-with-a-C.
Just before the encore performance of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” (a tune that’s ranked across both audio and video over the years), Justin borrowed a fan’s mobile and asked the rest of the crowd to pocket theirs while he recorded everyone belting “Happy Birthday” to Justin and Dan’s mom. Justin’s single directive to the lucky fan: tag him on IG so he can share it with Mama Hawkins.
For more The Darkness, check out Motorheart, which dropped in August. If you’d like to try giving Eric-with-a-C a run for his money as Number One Fan, check out the remaining leg of The Darkness North America tour.
Check out the concert photo gallery from The Darkness show here.
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