Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

It seemed unlikely that Dan Hawkins and Ed Graham would find a singer quite so flamboyant as Justin Hawkins. However, when Lowestoft's finest - The Darkness - died a death two years ago, they had an ace up their sleeves (more on sleeves later..).

The Darkness' final bassist Richie Edwards switched to guitar and lead vocals and the quartet was completed with the recruitment of Graham Coxon's be-hatted four-stringer Toby MacFarlaine.

Expectations were high as old Darkness fans and friends & family filled a sold-out venue.

Serpico

Support was provided by Minerva who played a slower, more blues/rock/soul music. A bit more rapport with the audience might have helped rather than a lot of serious looks, but they went down well enough. Maybe they should lighten up a bit?

Second on were Serpico, who have a straight ahead heavy rock sound which was much more in keeping with the vibe. They're from Edinburgh, although singer Mikey Serpico doesn't sound particularly Scottish.

He had to get through the first song with the audience unable to hear him until the mixing desk sorted it out. After that the band ingratiated themselves with the audience - priming them for the main attraction.

Sleeve it out

It was the end of Stone Gods' tour and it showed as the band bounced onto the stage with confidence and got straight into Burn The Witch - the lead track from the forthcoming debut EP.

It instantly shows that the band don't sound like The Darkness. Richie Edwards is a great frontman - but he's definitely his own man as opposed to being a replacement for Justin Hawkins. His banter is bonhomous, commanding and yet self-deprecating at times - and he never resorted to metal cliches.

The ceiling speaks

That said, writing a song called Burn The Witch does rather plant your flag firmly in the metal camp.Μύ BTW also reverts to Darkness type with the double entendre "the flames are going to lick around your wizard's sleeve". They obviously didn't they get this out of their system with Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)!

The song showcases the band's tougher guitar sound - ending with a Metallica/Anthrax-esque guitar workout. It's suitably epic.

The band is almost instantly on the home straight after that with a run of tunes which sound catchy and harder-edged at the same time. Dan's acknowledged influences are still in place, but they have the songs to back them up - much like The Darkness did.

The crowd's reaction suggests this band is going to develop a big following pretty quickly with the release of the self-released debut EP in February with an album to follow in the summer. They plan to build it slowly this time, which presumably means no support slots with the likes of Robbie Williams this time round.

For me, it's one of those gigs where the energy coming off the stage is palpable and you wish you were up there spanking the plank. If only I'd practised a bit harder...