The Darkness & Black Stone Cherry review

Jewish Telegraph, February 2023

𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆

Let’s get something straight from the off, this report may contain some praise for The Darkness, but primarily it’s to share the news that the greatest rock band in the world are back in the UK.

I’ve written before about my love of Black Stone Cherry and each time I’ve seen them, they’ve grown a little more into their personas as rock giants — yet they’ve managed to keep their egos in check.

They always seem genuinely thankful that people have made the effort to see them and, as singer Chris Robertson said, Manchester has a special place in their hearts as it was the first place they saw someone wearing one of their t-shirts in 2007.

But before we get to the main course, let’s savour the starters. Danko Jones had the task of warming the crowd up. It can’t be easy performing when you know that you are there to pass the time while the arena fills up. But they did a good job of getting everyone in the right mood with an eight-song set. They are ones to keep an eye out for as big things beckon for them.

The Darkness, on the other hand, are rock veterans. It’s hard to believe that it is 20 years since their debut album Permission to Land was released and we were first introduced to Justin Hawkins’ falsetto voice.

But as they showed at Manchester Arena they aren’t a one-trick pony. They also back it up with great songs and a lot of energy.

The most disappointing thing was that Justin took to the stage in jeans and a t-shirt — but, not to worry, a few songs from the end, his guitar tech Softy took over his duties while he headed off stage to change into one of his trademark catsuits.

Opening with Growing on Me, the audience lapped up their performance. As they only had 75 minutes, there wasn’t much chat between songs — they let the music do the talking.

Of course, the biggest cheer of the night was for their huge hit I Believe in a Thing Called Love.

And they left the stage to a deafening roar after an elongated version of Love on the Rocks with No Ice, which included Justin being carried on Softy’s shoulders through the crowd while playing a guitar solo.

I know it was called a co-headlining show, but there was no doubt that Black Stone Cherry were the main act. I’ve used every superlative in the past to describe them, so I can only repeat what I’ve said before — no one can touch the Kentucky boys for energy, songs and performance.

Kicking off with Me and Mary Jane, the quartet of Chris Robertson (lead vocals, lead guitar), Ben Wells (rhythm guitar), Steve Jewell (bass) and John Fred Young (drums) had the audience in their hands from the first note.

The setlist included songs from every stage of their career, including Again and ELO cover Don’t Bring Me Down from most recent album The Human Condition.

A lot of the classics were there like Soul Creek, Blind Man, In My Blood, White Trash Millionaire, Blame it on the Boom Boom and Lonely Train. While future classic Out of Pocket, their new single, fitted seamlessly into the setlist.

Highlight of the night was the incredibly moving Things My Father Said, which has taken on a more emotional meaning for Chris since the death of his own father, Steve, in 2021. I can’t imagine how he feels when he hears the whole audience sing along with him.

That was the praise, now for the minor gripes. It would have been good if The Darkness maybe had just done an hour and BSC had added another 15 minutes onto their show. But I’m sure The Darkness fans are saying it should have been the other way round.

Also, when you only have a limited amount of time, is a drum solo really necessary? That time could have been taken up with a Peace is Free or a Hell & High Water or a Ringing in My Head or a . . . you get my point. That said, it was a pretty good drum solo.

There are only a couple of dates left on the current tour, but set up email alerts so you know when BSC return to these shores as any fan of good quality rock music really needs to catch them live.