The Rock Tribune

THE DARKNESS return!

Continuing their worldwide whirlwind of a tour which started in the U.K. with a critically acclaimed reunion show at theDownload Festival in June and has made stops in Sweden, Spain, Japan and Italy culminating this week with 14 sold-out U.K. shows, THE DARKNESS are taking their electrifying and outrageous rock n’ roll to North America.

From Lowestoft, Suffolk, frontman/guitarist JUSTIN HAWKINS says, “We literally cannot wait to hit back in theU.S. andCanada. We loved it last time and we’re sure to love it again. See you there!”

The new tour features all the guitar mastery and wild pyrotechnics that THE DARKNESS shows have become well-known for. The group will perform music from 2003’s multi-platinum album Permission To Land, including favorites “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” and “Get Your Hands Off My Woman”; 2005’s One-Way Ticket To Hell And Backwith “One Way Ticket” and “Is It Just Me?”; as well as several new songs off their forthcoming yet-to-be-titled third album. This marks the band’s first return to the States since their 2004 tour supporting Permission To Land. THE DARKNESS will hit North America starting February 1 in Toronto and wrapping February 21 in San Francisco (see dates below). Tickets are on-sale this week and Facebook fans of the group will have an exclusive window to buy tickets before the general public; www.facebook.com/thedarknessofficial.

After their reformation in March, THE DARKNESS have romped, roared and raged through summer and fall with appearances at many of Europe’s most prestigious festivals including a headlining appearance at Sonisphere in Madrid. This fall, they hit the road in Japan and England with new songs and fan favorites to crazed, capacity crowds. About the sold-out U.K. tour, Alex Lai of Contact Music noted in his review of the group’s Manchester Academy show, “Frontman Justin Hawkins emerges from a cage structure that houses drummer Ed Graham as the quartet begin with ‘Black Shuck’ and then ‘Growing On Me’, which causes a sing-along that would put some stadium performances to shame. …every track is dynamite, even non-singles such as ‘Friday Night’ and the splendid acoustic rendition of ‘Holding My Own’. Key to the reaction is Hawkins’ impressive vocal control, note-perfect in falsetto and without any cracks in the delivery,a truly powerful audio weapon. …[of the new songs] ‘Best Of Me’ has the crowd clapping and ‘Out Of This World’already has people singing along by the final verse, but what sticks out about them as a collection is the quality of the guitar work. At times it’s as if there is a competition between lead guitarist Dan Hawkins and his brother, with the winnerbeing the audience, as they are treated to some great riffs and solos, boding well for any future album. The aural side of The Darkness live experience is truly still impressive… Welcome back The Darkness” (November 13, 2011).To read the entire Contact Music review, visit: http://www.contactmusic.com/review/the-darkness-live-november-2011.

Elsewhere, The Daily Star exclaimed, “THE DARKNESS are both a spectacle and spectacular…Don’t miss out” (11/20/11) while The Gainsborough Standard added, “On the one hand it feels like they’ve never been away, but on the other you’re thrilled to bits that they’re back… This is music exactly as it should be–fun, huge, proud, and really, really loud.”

JUSTIN and his band mates including brother DAN HAWKINS (guitars/backing vocals), FRANKIE POULLAIN (bass) and ED GRAHAM (drums) have established quite a formidable legacy in less than a decade. After winning three prestigiousBRIT Awards, rocking sold-out crowds across the globe and selling millions of records worldwide, this is a new beginning, and THE DARKNESS, are here to stay.

www.theactualdarkness.com
http://www.facebook.com/thedarknessofficial
www.twitter.com/darknessactual

THE DARKNESS 2012 North American Tour: