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The Darkness
Descended Upon
The Agora
 Justin Hawkins |  Frankie Poulin |  Rufus Taylor |  Dan Hawkins |
|---|---|---|---|
 Justin Hawkins |  Justin Hawkins |  Frankie Poulin |  Justin Hawkins |
 Dan Hawkins |  Rufus Taylor |  Justin Hawkins |  Frankie Poulin |
 Justin Hawkins |  Justin Hawkins |  Frankie Poulin |  The Darkness |
 Mark Daly |  Justin Hawkins |  Mark Daly and the Raven |  Mark Daly and The Raven |
 Mark Daly and The Raven |  Mark Daly and the Raven |  Mark Daly and The Raven |  Mark Daly and the Raven |
September 22, 2025
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The Darkness rolled into the Agora with high energy and attitude as they were playing the last show of their Dreams On Toast US tour.
Kicking off the show with "Rock and Roll Cowboy" from their latest lp, the party was off and running. Singer and lead guitarist, Justin Hawkins bounded across the stage all evening long doing kicks and jumps while maintaining his falsetto voice.
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After "Get Your Hands Off My Woman," Hawkins noticed a young fan on the rail that made a sign stating that it was his first concert. Justin took the sign and proceed to have the entire band and crew sign it. He had a brief conversation with the lad and found out his name was Eli and he is eleven years old. For the rest of the show, the band showered him with guitar pics making it a memorable experience for him.
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Another new song, "Walking Through Fire" fit in perfectly with Darkness classics like "Barbarian" and "Love Is Only A Feeling."
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Drummer Rufus Taylor came out from behind the kit to sing "My Only," which reminded me of former Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Not only do they play in a similar style, but they also have a similar look and they both can sing. Rufus also has a Hawk tattoo on his shoulder, honoring his late friend.
Afterwards, Taylor returned to the kit as the band tore into a great cover of The Rolling Stones "Dead Flowers." A few songs later, Hawkins brought out a long time friend to help them sing another fantastic cover song. This time it was "Fat Bottom Girls" from Rufus' dad's band, Queen.
The band started to close out the main set with their biggest hit, "I Believe In A Thing Called Love." However, Hawkins stopped the band and told the audience to put their phones away. He said, "just for one song, let's live in this moment together." Most of the crowd obliged and it was a really cool, old school moment, the way concerts used to be back in the day.
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Eli got to experience the way entire concerts used to be, at least for one song.
Irish rockers, Mark Daly and the Ravens opened up the show with a good set of straight ahead rock and roll.
Photos and review by Greg Drugan
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