Review: The Darkness at Summit Music Hall, 2/16/12
22.05.12
Stuffed into a sleeveless leather American flag suit and bearded like Captain Jack Sparrow's crazier uncle, the lead singer provided more than half of the spectacle all by his onesie. The first note of the night was a high one, somehow sustained throughout the extensive falsetto sections of all 21 songs he, his brother and their band would amp up and crank out throughout a two-hour spectacle. Hawkins live is like if Steve Coogan had prodigious vocal range and was really, really into Freddie Mercury.
In his few shimmies to the side of the stage to drink water, Hawkins could be seen either adjusting the crotch of his current costume or changing into a new one: With both a plaid vest suit and a striped lace-up V-neck catsuit with a cod piece (a cod piece!) in the mix, the ratio of bizarre clothing to pale tattooed skin heavily favored his bare nipples. The eventual realization is a poignant one: There is a flame tattoo coming out of his down-under region. Justin Hawkins' crotch is metaphorically on fire.
Source: Westword (blog)