By Tyler Whiting
The Darkness—without a shadow of a doubt—are truly epic live; filled with passion, humour and adrenaline to fuel an entire crowd for the entire evening, and then some.
The stage was electrified with each and every lyric; a high energy bursted through the roof and beyond.
Taking to the stage at Wolverhampton’s Halls, The Darkness are here to remind us why we believe in a thing called love.
The rock band, formed in Lowestoft in 2000, are touring their new Dreams on Toast album.
Supporting them was ASH, a Northern Irish rock band, who The Darkness have been friends with for a long time. The three-piece consists of vocalist and guitarist, Tim Wheeler; bassist, Mark Hamilton; and drummer, Rick McMurray; to bring us a cool, calm and collected, rock support start to the evening.
Starting their set off with Burn Baby Burn had the crowd bopping along, and fan favourite Girl from Mars, performed at the end of their set, had many singing along too, with high hopes to follow through for the rest of the night.
Then it was time for The Darkness to take the stage.
Songs from their new album, Dreams on Toast, were sprinkled throughout the evening, all with signature style and guitar solos that could whip you up into a frenzy. The band fed off of the audience’s energy, with the entire crowd singing along, and the rocking of bodies dancing back and forth.
With staging that highlights the band’s name, changing style, and colours, to fit each song in its own unique way, mixed with big screen views, with close ups of each member, The Darkness had a cohesive and exciting stage setup.
Justin Hawkins led the band with both stunning vocals that haven’t aged a day, and lightning-quick guitar skills. Flanked either side of the stage were Dan Hawkins on electric bass, and Frankie Poullain on electric and acoustic guitar, both with their own unique swagger and confidence only a member of The Darkness could have.
Drummer, Rufus Tiger Taylor, situated at the back of the stage, commanded the room, consistently engaging with other members of the band, closing out songs with a mix of cymbals, and Justin’s jumping guitar solos, with flashing lights to blackouts.
A nice slower moment in the evening came when Rufus took front and center stage, to and sing solo, accompanied with photos of his ‘best friend’ – his dog.
Friday Night and of course fan favourite, I Believe In A Thing Called Love had the entire crowd jumping and singing along, with Justin Hawkins encouraging fans to live in the moment by putting their phones away, and to my surprise, the vast majority of the crowd actually did, letting lose any stress or tension for the evening.
It wouldn’t be The Darkness without some extra show bravado, and Justin Hawkins being placed on the top of security’s shoulder, and paraded through the standing crowd, all while still playing a guitar solo, definitely lives up to that standard. If the roof wasn’t already blown off it was torn completely free!
With a mix of classy rock confidence and plenty of ‘dramatic monologues’, you can see The Darkness love to throw humour into their performances, and we cannot recommend the Dreams on Toast tour more. We are super excited to see what they have in store for us when the album releases on the 28th of March.
Photography & Text Copyright 2025 © Tyler Whiting/ADRENALINE Magazine.
Chloe Morris 
Alisha Lawton