Shot to fame, rockers The Darkness are heading back to the limelight
live when the band head to Scotland as part of their festive Blast Of Our Kind UK tour. It includes Glasgow’s O2 Academy on December 5 before ending at London’s Roundhouse on December 20.
The shows will also provide a chance to hear the newest member of the group – drummer Rufus Taylor.
The band had sought a replacement after Emily Dolan Davies, who features on the new album, quit six weeks ago.
And Rufus, who is following in the footsteps of famous father Roger, the drummer with Queen, fits the bill.
Edinburgh-born Darkness bassist Frankie Poullain said: “We’ve just had this slightly stressful last six weeks where Emily wasn’t able to give us the commitment as a touring drummer.
“She added something fantastic to the tracks on the album and we had a great experience making the album with her.
“Then Brian May’s guitar tech reminded us that Rufus, who was actually christened Tiger Rufus Taylor, was available.
“He flew back from Australia on the day of our launch gig in front of press and superfans.
“Rufus arrived at six that morning, went straight to rehearsal with us for three hours, learned five songs and did a bunch of interviews and photos.
“The funny thing is that day he looked as old as us because he had such bad jet leg.
“He’s only 24 but looked in his late 30s.”
Justin added: “He reinvigorated us and it feels like being in a band with young men who don’t give a f*** again.
“We’d started to worry about things. That’s not how you rock. You’re supposed to have a joyful reckless abandon and we have that abandon again thanks to him.
“Also, he comes from a very fine rock pedigree, which is sensational, but even in his own right he is a great drummer and perfect for The Darkness.
“We’ve had a long friendship and connection with Queen and Brian’s guitar tech texted us to say that he was brilliant and to try him out.
“His exact words were, ‘Wouldn’t put him forward if I didn’t think he was up for it. Give him a chance.’
“He is a brilliant person, a really great laugh and everything sounds great. He’s really loud and exciting and looks the part.
“He is handsome and has blonde hair and the rock pedigree.
“He ticks all the boxes. Oh yeah, as a lovely side bonus he is very talented as a drummer too.”
The Darkness famously opened T in the Park’s main stage in 2003 before headlining the following year after a meteoric rise to fame.
But Justin fears they may have been left off the bill at Scotland’s biggest festival this time around because the band are no longer in vogue.
“I love T in the Park, it’s one of our favourite festivals,” he said.
“Maybe the people who are responsible for the bands don’t like the band any more.
“Believe it or not, there are people out there who don’t like The Darkness and some are in quite important positions within the music trade.
“When we headlined T in the Park, we did that by accident.
“David Bowie was ill.
“We got bumped up when he cancelled. We would have preferred it if David Bowie was healthy because he is a legend but it was a brilliant moment for us.”
Frankie added: “T in the Park was very exciting but should a band with only one album headline a festival?
“In retrospect, you are setting yourself up for a backlash and that’s obviously what happened.
“In Britain, they build you up and very quickly knock you down.
“We suffered that and now that we are on the fourth album I can feel the tide turning. People are thinking, ‘They’re still around. Maybe they weren’t a joke band after all.’
“In fairness, we didn’t do ourselves any favours in all the antics we got up to with the second album, which had a massive overspend that we area still paying back … thattha massive black hole.h
“We’ve hadha a 10-year10 backlashbac and I can feel tthat with thist album we’ve workedworke our way thrthrough that.” this festival great value for money.
Next was Download, where you can see Slipknot, Muse, KISS, and more, for £215.
You can see all three of these rock gods now for £140 but the rest of the festival means you’ll be paying just £2.36 per act.
Reading/Leeds festival was the next, with weekend camping tickets priced at £213. With 85 acts playing, this ticket would add up to paying £2.50 per act.
It would cost £165 to see this festival’s headliners Mumford & Sons, Metallica and The Libertines separately live.
Next up is V Festival, with tickets costing £199.95 for the small but star-studded line-up – or £3.93 per act.
But with the quality of the 51 acts playing, including chart toppers such as Calvin Harris, Stereophonics, Ellie Goulding, Paloma Faith and Sam Smith, PromotionalCodes.org.uk valued it higher than Bestival.
Ordinarily, going to see the headline acts live would cost £227.50, so going to V Festival you would save 13 per cent.
With the Glastonbury festival line-up announced this week and tickets on sale for £220, seeing the main headliners would cost you just £174.75.
However, with 76 acts, you’re looking at £3 per act, including greats such as Mavis Staples, Patti Smith and Lionel Ritchie.