The Darkness Put on a Night of Rowdy Birthday Celebrations at York Barbican [Photos]

While every day on the road is a party day for our recent cover story band The Darkness, tonight in York, the evening holds special meaning as frontman Justin Hawkins celebrates his fiftieth birthday with a room full of fans fresh from the release of their new album Dreams On Toast.

Supporting the band on this lengthy UK tour are 90s Britrock favourites Ash, who smash through their forty-minute set like they haven’t aged a bit. The Irish trio warmed the crowd up nicely with a gritty, ’90s rock-tinged set, with both Tim Wheeler and bassist Mark Hamilton throwing plenty of impressive rock poses throughout their set.

As for the headliners, if they can’t get you in the mood for a good night, then, quite frankly, you’re a lost cause. That being the case, given the significance of the night, Lowestoft rockers are exactly the band you would want to celebrate that milestone with. Opening their set with the new track “Rock And Roll Party Cowboy,” the quartet couldn’t have picked a better mood setter with the rest of the set following suit.

It didn’t take long before the birthday chants broke out in the crowd, with a ‘Birthday Boy’ sash landing on the stage in front of the man himself. Of course, Hawkins is only too happy to oblige by tangling himself up in the sash. It’s fun moments like these which epitomize why The Darkness still have such a loyal fanbase. This loyalty is cemented as the band rattles through a set of absolute rock bangers like “Get Your Hands Off My Woman.”

In full rock mode by now, Hawkins jumps from risers and pulls off handstands while the rest of us oldies scramble around for our Cod Liver Oil tablets. The band are no slouches either, with both Dan Hawkins and Frankie Poullain pulling off their best AC/DC moves (the former) and the ability to rock out in something that could have come from an ABBA wardrobe (the latter).

While the new album is healthily represented throughout the set through tracks like “Walking Through Fire” and “The Battle For Gadget Land,” when the band wrap up the main set with “I Believe In A Thing Called Love,” taking York right back to the start, you can’t help but reveal in a three-minute camp rock anthem that even now like it’s fifty-year-old writer, is capable of rocking a room harder than ever.

Our photographer, Graham Finney Photography, checked out the show and brought back this photo gallery.

The Darkness Setlist:

1. Rock and Roll Party Cowboy
2. Growing on Me
3. Get Your Hands Off My Woman
4. Mortal Dread
5. Motorheart
6. Back for Good
7. Walking Through Fire
8. Barbarian
9. The Battle for Gadget Land
10. Love Is Only a Feeling
11. The Longest Kiss
12. Heart Explodes
13. My Only
14. Japanese Prisoner of Love
15. Friday Night
16. I Believe in a Thing Called Love
17. Weekend in Rome
18. I Hate Myself
19. Love on the Rocks With No Ice

The Darkness (w/ Ash) @ The Barbican (York, UK) on March 17th, 2025

35 photos