The Darkness at The Truman, Kansas City MO (2023-10-11)

They asked us politely to not film the “landing”-–

The Darkness, the bombastic, longtime East Suffolk, UK band had returned to downtown Kansas City at The Truman to help commemorate the 20^th Anniversary of their globally successful debut album, Permission to Land, and had as usual, amazed the crowd with a solid set and were about to play their biggest hit, “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” as a high point, when singer Justin Hawkins made the plea.

He urged fans to live and experience the moment through their own eyes, not through a tiny cell phone screen, and unite to have one last song’s length collective party, before the band would say ‘good night’ and most did oblige- pogo-ing in place, hands in the air, and singing along.

As mentioned, the band was a near-immediate success in 2003, when Permission To Land was released, topping the UK charts, winning three Brit Awards, going 5x Platinum and selling over 1.5 million copies in the UK alone, whilst also becoming huge in the US, Australia, Germany, Japan and elsewhere. Their brand of arena-sized, glam rock and Queen-influenced, bluesy UK guitar rock was needed then, as it still is now.

The band would bow out a few years later, but triumphantly returned just over a decade ago, most recently with 2021’s Motorheart album, and now the quartet (singer Hawkins, guitarist Dan Hawkins, bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Rufus Taylor),continue touring and have released Permission to Land 2.0, a deluxe and expanded 5LP/2CD or 4CD/1DVD mega set, also collecting unreleased and live recordings from the period. Look for a documentary film next month as well.

Maybe most impressive after these two decades is Hawkins’ five-octave voice itself, a falsetto that remains generally intact with the band still playing songs in the original key they were written in.

Before going further, we’d be remiss not to mention the late-added openers- area Missouri-based Countrified Southern rockers, The Comancheros, who channel their combination of Cash, Haggard, Motorhead, and Priest, for an excitable set that can’t help getting one more energized watching.

Their in-concert album, No Quarter-Live from Duke’s Indy is out now, and they return locally to Knuckleheads on Nov. 4, bringing a limited, rerecorded “World That Moved On” CD with them, available only there.

Back to the main act, who opened emphatically with 2003’s “Black Shuck” the beginning track to their heralded debut, which they would play in full, though not in sequential order. Singer Hawkins was dressed (make that half-dressed) in a usual Mercury-inspired spandex one-piece that he disrobed his top half from, after only a couple of songs.

Hawkins amazed not only vocally, but also in his trademark handstand on the drum platform, scissor-kicking to the beat, and even thanked the photographers in the crowded front pit for doing their work (a first!).

He recalled the band’s last trip in town being the annual Thundergong benefit show (which comes up again next month) and the crowd needed no reminders, as they sung along to the memorable singles the band has had over the last two decades, chiefly from that first album.

The rest of the band remain spot-on as usual- brother and guitarist Dan to Justin’s right, the reliable Poullain to his left, and behind them since 2015, rock royalty in drummer Taylor, the son of Queen’s own Roger Taylor (who we see in just a couple weeks).

Though it was only Wednesday, it seemed like “Friday Night” especially when everyone in the house sang the chorus, and then most people did comply for their closing and best-known song, happy to put the electronics down again for a few short minutes, and collectively follow these “rock pilots” as they landed to complete the main set.

The encore turned into a more casual and looser affair, with the band re-emerging in satin robes and smoking jackets with Solo cup cocktails, and going into the crooning, “I Love You 5 Times” to begin things.

Longtime fans weren’t satiated up front, yelling for that single’s B-side, the holiday-themed “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)” which the band acquiesced on, despite being two months early. Hawkins even recognized another fan’s birthday and had band and audience singing the classic song, before their evening-closing “Love on the Rocks with No Ice”.

That last musical splash was extended by singer Hawkins hopping on a crew member’s shoulders, to play guitar whilst strolling to all corners of the crowd, and then the song was extended again – not by a bass or drum solo, but by the buzz of a hair trimmer!

Hawkins was determined to cut drummer Taylor’s blonde hair on stage (its length resembling that of the late Taylor Hawkins) and did actually get in there to trim down the right side, before the band revved up again, to end the night with a massive musical exclamation.

And with that, The Darkness “Airlines” “Co-Captains” the Hawkins brothers and “First Officers” Poullain and Taylor, brought us all in for a perfect three-point musical “landing” for the night, tossing out drumsticks and the remaining guitar picks to the faithful. Some two decades later, The Darkness still gets a great and warm welcome, and always has “permission to land” again in Kansas City.

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