Review and Photos by Megan Juarez-Fontana
Promoter: Lucky Man (https://luckymanonline.com/)
Venue: The Marquee (https://marqueetheatreaz.com/ )
Date: October 7th, 2023
The Darkness’ album Permission To Land came out in 2003, that’s 20 years to date! Fans from all over the world were ecstatic for this tour. The band was just here in 2022 and they were back again but this time celebrating their 20 year anniversary for their debut album.
Fans got in line and waited to be let inside, everyone could contain their excitement. I remember when I first discovered The Darkness. It was afterschool and I was watching Fuse TV. The Darkness came on with their music video for “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”. The moment the video started I was hooked; it was whimsical, energetic and over all captivating. The song instantly became a hit to me; so much so I had to run and grab their album.
The band was set to come onto the stage and the house lights were off and the stage lights were dim. All of a sudden two rows of lights on the floor began to blink; they were set up to look like the landing strip at the airport. The band came onto the stage and began to take their places. The song “Arrival” by Abba was playing. Once the band began to play and the audience went absolutely nuts! They opened up their set with “Black Shuck”. The band played many wonderful hits. They got to their song “Givin’ Up” and Justin asked the audience to copy what he does. He then asked everyone to hold on and be quiet because an audience member also had the pitch perfect and he wanted that fan to show everyone how to do it. The fan’s name was Patrick and I’m sure this is a moment he shared with Justin that he will never forget.
The Darkness is a band that everyone needs to see at least once. This band’s energy is through the roof. All the members move all over the stage and interact with everyone. At one point Justin went over to the drum platform and did a handstand while clapping his legs together.
The band ended their set with “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”. Ten second into the song Justin stops the band and then begins to lecture the audience. He asks them if they would rather live in the moment or the past because the minute they started to play the song he saw everyone’s cellphones pointed at them. The audience decided to put their phones away and sang along to the song. When Justin told them to jump everyone began to jump.
This performance was truly magical. It was one of the best shows that brought me back so many memories. being able to relive this whole album live was truly something the fans and I will never forget.
The Darkness
The first band to hit the stage was the Comancheros. The Comancheros hail from Columbia, Missouri. This heavy- western grit group are heavy hitting and should not be counted out. As they came onto the stage in the cover of darkness, the audience cheered. As the lights came on, you could see the band were in matching red and white western outfits and dawned band T-shirts. Fans cheered as they started to play. Their music is a fun mix of country meets rock; having influence from bands like Motörhead and Thin Lizzy. You could say they are outlaw country with a heavy twist! The band is made up by Tanner Jones-vocals/guitar, R. Michael Cook-drums and Jon Green-bass.
This band brought so much energy to the stage. They were an excellent and unexpected opener for The Darkness. They were able to get the audience to interact with them and their music. The band moved all about the stage, making faces and smiling at all the viewers. Their sound was unique and fun; something that is not very common. Everyone loved their set and energy. The Comancheros put on an amazing set and I hope they headline their own tour soon! This is a band that you should keep your eye on!
The Comancheros
