Story and Photos by Andrew Mather, Editor-In-Chief/Primary Photographer
British rockers, The Darkness, returned to The Truman in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
As The Darkness took the stage and you could already tell it was going to be a fun night. Lead singer Justin Hawkins was all over the stage, his energy fueling the crowd’s cheering and dancing. As the band played their hit One Way Ticket the crowd was jumping up and down and singing along. Dan Hawkins, brother of Justin, shredded away on the guitar all night. Frankie Poullain, kept the bass groove going, and Rufus Tiger Taylor kept the beat on the drums. The group played together and fed off of each other’s energy all night long.
The Darkness played through some of their hits throughout the night, including Love is Only a Feeling, One Way Ticket, Solid Gold, and Growing On Me. Toward the end of the night Justin addressed the audience and pointed out there were a few young attendees in the crowd. He asked a couple of them their ages and found out one was celebrating his birthday that night. Justin then proceeded to lead the band and the audience in singing Happy Birthday to the young fan. Hawkins also found out that a couple of the concert goers were under 10 years old and asked the audience if they would prefer the original or a cleaned up version of the lyrics to their next song, Get Your Hands Off My Woman. Fans booed at the suggestion of clean lyrics and a couple even jokingly chanted “F*ck the kids!” a few times.
After playing through Get Your Hands Off My Woman the band exited the stage while the audience cheered and chanted for an encore. Bass guitarist Frankie Poullain was the first to return to the stage, beer in hand. The rest of the band followed shortly after. At this time lead vocalist Justin Hawkins asked the audience to put away their phones and to not record because, while its always fun to show friends what they missed, it’s their fault they are not at the show and it should be enjoyed by those that are there. The band finished the night with their biggest hit I Believe In A Thing Called Love, and everyone was dancing and singing throughout the entire encore.
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All photos © Andrew Mather
KC Concerts 