US nu-metallers Disturbed, Scandinavian heavy rockers Blindside and the UK’s very own The Darkness are on the bill for a promising evening of noise at Brixton Academy. I arrive in time to see Blindside take to the stage to promote their impressive debut LP Silence. The band has been playing together for the past eight years as is evident from their solid performance. The songs go down well with the crowd, possibly due to the uncanny similarities to headliners Disturbed, who most have come to see. The set is over all too quickly, but the four-piece have done themselves no harm at all and seem certain to have gone away with many new fans.

Next up it’s The Darkness, hailed by many as the next big thing in rock music (Jo Whiley’s a big fan!), who take to the stage to heavy applause. Sadly much of that applause turns to jeers, boos and bottle throwing towards the end, but then The Darkness aren’t really like the other two bands. Lead singer Justin Hawkins is in fact different to just about every other frontman in the business. This guy literally bursts onto the stage wearing nothing but a pair of brown furry, flared trousers, complete with pinned-on tail (yes, you did read that correctly!), and as if that wasn’t enough he has his name garishly tattooed on his left arm, but where there would normally be an ‘s’, there is instead a lightning bolt…and why not!

The band kick off with an instrumental number that simply oozes 70s guitar riffs, before Justin takes to the mic to belt out his band’s first proper song. His falsetto squeals, over-enthusiastic scissor kicks and frequent arse wiggling would be enough to keep most crowds entertained, but all that aside the songs are pretty good too!

‘Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman’ is a personal favourite of mine, but it’s debut single ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ that keep the bottle-throwing at bay for a few minutes, while fan-favourite ‘Love On The Rocks (With No Ice)’ is as comical as it is brilliant. The jeers are taken in good spirit by the band, who know they’re playing to a difficult crowd, and Justin even jokes about “seeing everybody again next time”.

Two down, one to go and, after a lengthy sound-check, the lights dim, the dry ice drifts across the stage, and from out of the gloom strides…Andre Agassi!  Hang on a minute, this can’t be right! Oh but wait, it’s OK…my mistake! Those familiar sabre-tooth tiger-style chin piercings have become visible and it is after all vocalist David Draiman standing before me. The band rip straight into it with several tracks from their new album Believe, and all’s going brilliantly, until the aforementioned singer opens his mouth between songs.

It starts off with a simple “Wow look at us, Disturbed at Brixton Academy, who would’ve thought it?” kind of speech, but soon leads into a whole load of preaching about how powerful metal music is and that it’s not just about music, it’s about the soul. And not just his soul, but “mine, the band’s and everyone in Brixton Academy tonight my brothers, my sisters, my blood!” What a pile of crap!

This continues between almost every song and spoils the whole mood of the performance. The band are unquestionably very good and each song is performed with plenty of feeling and passion, but I’m beginning to wish he’d just stop talking and let the songs do the job. I’m certainly not brave enough to tell him to shut the fuck up (his shaved head and piercings create a formidable looking character), but I am tempted to ask him how Steffi Graf is.

The band finish with a rousing version of recent single ‘Prayer’ and early release ‘Stupify’ before leaving the stage without an encore, to the dismay of pretty much all of the audience. Possibly the last big rock event of the year out of the way then, and I depart with a few observations.

Blindside are as good as their album suggests and, with a little more exposure, can expect a healthy future, The Darkness will undoubtedly continue their rise to the top, though Justin should lose the furry trousers (and when I say lose, I mean replace!), and Disturbed should just concentrate on doing what they do very well and tell their singer to put a sock in it.
(4½/5)

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