JUSTIN HAWKINS HAS GROWN A BEARD??!!?!!

....this isn't the only lasting impression that I got from the Olympia last Saturday night, but damned if its not one of them. It looks ridiculous and matched with his over the top costumes and off the wall antics it just seems wrong. But thats when it hit me, theres a LOT more to The Darkness than Justin, his catsuit, and his new attempt to seem cool. They're a kick ass rock band and that shouldnt be forgotten.

It was a cold December night and waiting outside for a friend was a terrible idea, but no sooner had we walked into the venue when the first chord from 'Black Shuck', the opening track to 2003's 'Permission to Land' hit us as descriptively as any cliched analogy would have you believe. Immediately forgetting the cold outside we let ourselves fall in line with the rest of the sold out Olympia.

Having not given Permission to Land a spin in a couple of years I was surprised that all the words came flooding back instantaneously. The crowd was loving it and it showed on the band's faces. Its been a looooong time since I've seen a band look so happy to be on stage. They followed up with their debut single 'Growing on Me' and thats when the show really kicked off.

1300 Darkness fans were transported back to that first riff that introduced the band to most of us and its still as rocking as ever. The set continued with belter after belter including 2005's 'One Way Ticket to Hell......and Back's title track. Next up was 'Get Your Hands Off of My Woman', a storming 2 and a half minute rocker that the band decided to play around with, jamming away and inciting audience participation.

I've been to plenty of concerts all over the world and when you get a good crowd in Ireland you can be among some of the best fans on the planet, but if there's one thing I personally cannot stand it's when an Irish crowd starts to chant Ole Ole Ole at a rock show. Save it for the football lads! But what happened next was something I've never been privy to. It was a good crowd and everybody was up for it but then it happened...during a back and forth vocal exercise of Mothers and Fuckers between the crowd and the bearded frontman, a chant of Ole Ole spread across the victorian stlyle theatre.

Without skipping a beat, the bend blended their jam into the crowd's chant and turned it into the greatest rendition of this tired sing song that I'd ever heard. In a word, awesome! The band then segued into the song and it finished up with one of the most impressive live vocal solos I've ever witnessed. I'm not sure what the brit rockers have been at since we last heard from them in 2005 (choosing to forget the atrocity that was Hot Leg, of course) but they havent forgotten how to do what they do best.

Justin's voice was phenomenal and I dont pass out praise that easily, but man was he on fire! The twin guitars of the Hawkins brothers were equal parts screaming and melodic, and tied together with the rhythm section of drummer Ed Graham and prodigal bassist; the handlebar moustached Frankie Poullain; The Darkness were sounding better than I ever expected.

They romped through the remainder of the set (including 'Givin Up', 'Love is Only a Feeling', and an acoustic version of their masturbation-themed ballad 'Holding My Own'. But one of the real highlights was their fast paced crunching cover of Radiohead's 'Street Spirit'.

After another costume change into a red and white candy striped jumpsuit leaving JH looking like a cross between a crack addict and one of Santa's elves, it was 'Christmas Time'. No amount of lights or conically arranged balls parading as a christmas tree on O'Connell St had me feeling in any way seasonal this year, but there's just no denying that this Xmas rocker is up there as one of the best Christmas songs in years.

All of a sudden the thousand-plus rockers in the Olympia had been replaced with a choir of school children, or so it seemed, as everybody attempted their best falsetto to sing the chorus "....Don't let the bells end". Not even the band could hide their delight as to how that sounded. It was almost time to say goodnight, but no good rock show would be complete without an encore that pales the previous hour or so in comparison.

The fantastic instrumental 'Bareback' kicked this off followed by easily the bands biggest hit and the song many (not me) were here for, PTL's 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' set the crowd ablaze with high pitched singing, air guitars and a big thumbs up. Finishing up the night with an extended 'Love on the Rocks' was typical Darkness. The dirty, rock epic is definitely the way to cap a fantastic night and JH's crowd surfing guitar solo was just the cherry on top.

One thing was clear after i left the show! I missed these guys, yes they're cheesy as all hell, their front man is quite possibly the tosser everybody thinks he is and that beard? (well that has to go) but they rocked when I was 19, and they rock even harder now and with a new album due in 2012, 'The Darkness' are back and I couldn't be happier.

Matt Smith