Live Review: The Darkness – 28th March 2025 – Cambridge Corn Exchange, Cambridge

Last night, The Darkness took to the stage in Cambridge to bring fans another electric night on their latest tour, promoting the new album Dreams On Toast. It was destined to be a special night from the get-go. Not only was this outing a change of pace for us here at Renowned For Sound – leaving London behind – but it also coincided nicely with the release of the new album.

Ash kicked off the night with their usual ferocity; flying riffs and a vivacious vibe. After a brief song-and-dance with the tech fixing lighting, The Darkness took to the stage on a wave of ABBA’s Arrival. Rock and Roll Party Cowboy kicked off the unadulterated rock in the first instance. Ripping solos from singer Justin Hawkins, pounding drums from Rufus Taylor. It sounded a tight and punchy as it does on the record. This was followed by classic Growing On Me from their legendary debut Permission To Land. “I say, this is a treat! How nice to see you all!” Justin spoke candidly throughout the show, whether it was about their previous show in Ipswich feeling like ‘pulling teeth’, or his pure distain for Mumford & Sons, a band that they are coming head to head with in this weeks album chart. Most of what was said about the group cannot be repeated in full, but one comment during the intro to Walking Through Fire sums up his angle. While getting the crowd to march in time to the song, he said “pretend you’re marching like you’re attending a neo-Nazi party soundtracked by Mumford & Sons”. It wouldn’t be a rock show without some band-bashing.

Their were many moments of Justin showing his control over an audience, from leading a Freddie Mercury-esc singalong before Mortal Dread, to flexing his pectoral muscles to make different sides of the crowd say ‘woo!’ during the beginning monologue to Barbarian. Later into the set, during classic hit Love Is Only A Feeling, Justin stopped the song and asked a member of the crowd for their phone. He used it to demonstrate how it looked, and to make a valid point about phone usage at gigs. “The person behind doesn’t want to watch the show through your screen,” he said, adding “and think about the people in front of you!” His case was adhered to for the rest of the show, an incredible feat considering people’s appetite for documenting everything. Not a single phone light was visible from that moment on. It made the solos in the aforementioned song, the shouts for Justin in The Longest Kiss, and the appearance of Rufus front of stage for his song My Only all the more special.

The night continued in style, fan favourite Friday Night and mega hit I Believe In A Thing Called Love being separated by a soulful, sexy jam led by Justin. It was a family affair, the main band being joined by drum and bass tech Scott Whisker on drums while Rufus was busy singing, and Ian ‘Softlad’ Norfolk on synth duties. The encore was a selection of new tunes, most notably Weekend In Rome which, during the lush string break, saw front row fans throwing fake flowers at Justin, much to his bewilderment and pleasure. It was the perfect end to a perfect rock show, something that quite honestly you don’t see much of anymore. Surprises a-plenty, solos galore, and a whole lot of bravado.

Set List:
Rock and Roll Party Cowboy
Growing On Me
Get Your Hands Off My Woman
Mortal Dread
Motorheart
Barbarian
Walking Through Fire
Love Is Only A Feeling
The Longest Kiss
Heart Explodes
My Only
Japanese Prisoner of Love
Friday Night
I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Encore:
Weekend in Rome
I Hate Myself

Ryan Bulbeck

Writer and Musician, Ryan Bulbeck has been published with a number of online publications, and has worked with a myriad of great artists, both as a performer, and as a producer. His most recent band The 295 are still active, playing shows around the UK.