Its 09 August 2025 and in the Custom House Square plays host to a night of rock and punk rock to a massive crowd out for a night of fun and sun. Yes, it was one of those rare evenings in Northern Ireland that the big glowing yellow ball in the sky was shinning down on us all.
Tonight, the big pull for a huge swathe of all people of all ages is the incredible raucous and utterly fabulous The Darkness who have, scarily, been together since 2000 with their debut album “Permission to Land” published in 2003. Having been playing now for 25 years, they have a massive and dedicated following, and rightly so, covering a generation or two now with their energetic, fun filled rock and roll.
Supporting them are Northern Ireland’s very own Ash, the trio from County Down, and Bad Nerves, a five man power pop punk rock group from Essex.
Up first are Bad Nerves who are full of friendly energy and a sound that backs it all up. They are Bobby Nerves (lead vocals), William Phillipson (guitar), George Berry (guitar), Jonathan Poulton (bass), and Samuel Thompson (drums). Blasting out songs like “Plastic Rebel”, “Radio Punk”, “Can’t Be Mine” and “You’ve Got The Nerve” they are a charismatic bundle of energy.
Playing in front of a crowd that s generally unaware of the band can be difficult, but tonight this group embraced it as a full-on opportunity to get the word out to a whole new audience. Bobby’s enthusiastic banter with the crowd interspersing the set was really doing the trick.
The crowd seemed to fall in love a bit with the cheeky ruffians as they strut the stage like real rock stars who had the talent to back it up.
They are an extremely tight outfit that dominated the stage during their set. There second album “Still Nervous” is out now and they will be supporting Green Day for a number of shows later in the month.
Next up were the one and only Ash. A trio who were playing to a very welcoming home crowd as they returned once again to play a blistering set. With a nerd heaven parody intro from “The A-Team” tv series and Queen’s “Flash” theme, it was a short, sharp and full impact set for them, they delivered the songs that gave the fans the biggest smiles with “Burn Baby Burn”, “Orpheus”, “Oh Yeah”, “Shining Light”, “Kung Fu”, and “Girls From Mars”. Highlights were the audience participation during Rick’s drum solo and the whole crowd singing A cappella of “Oh Yeah”.
All the songs were instantly recognisable and had the crowd going wild jumping and dancing with delight. As they all sang along at the top of their voices. Vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray were on top form with pure energy.
They seemed relaxed and excited at the same time on stage as they held sway over the packed crowd, they were home, and they knew it.
They also mixed in their new single “Give Me Back My World” from their latest album “Ad Astra”, scheduled for release on 03 October. In addition, Tim asked the audience if they liked Calypso? Punk Rock? Calypso Punk Rock? After which they jumped into a fantastic version of Harry Belafonte’s Jump in the Line that had everyone there singing along.
Then came the pièce de resistance, when Tim brought onto the stage Dan Hawkins from The Darkness and none other than the legendary Eric Bell from Thin Lizzy only to burst into a spine-tingling rendition of “Whiskey In The Jar”. What a performance and if Custom House Square had a roof, it would have well and truly been blown off.
Then came the reason for this evening, the inimitable, indisputable kings of fun rock showmanship, the one the only, The Darkness. Justin Hawkins (lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar), Dan Hawkins (rhythm and lead guitar), Frankie Poullain (bass) and Rufus Tiger Taylor (drums) came onto the stage to rapturous applause as Abba “Arrival” played them on.
And it was straight into the flamboyant rock that defines The Darkness with “Rock and Roll Party Cowboy”, “Growing on Me”, and “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” during which Justin showed his athleticism by hand standing and clapping his feet in time to the drumbeat. Pure unadulterated showmanship that had the entire crowd clapping their hands in the pure joy of rock. “Mortal Dread”, “Motorheart” and “Barbarian” continued the exuberant rock madness all interspersed with quips, smiles, cheeky dances, and pure uplifting fun from Justin and the gang.
With “Walking Through Fire”, Justin had the whole audience marching from side to side as everyone just seemed to forget themselves and let any embarrassing inhibitions fly away. This was a The Darkness gig, and actively taking part without any judgement was one of the terms and conditions. Tonight was a night to forget about the horrible reality of the outside world, tonight was for joy, fun, and rock n’ roll.
“Love Is Only a Feeling” kept the energy flowing and with “The Longest Kiss” Justin dropped in a few Bony M references, which was even funnier as he took time to try to explain the reference to some of the audience. His jovial, almost innocent and chatty banter seemed to connect him even more to everyone there. It was as if you were at a bar together having a light-hearted conversation. It’s a type of magical connection that while there were a good few thousand people there made it feel an intimate performance.
Then came the explosive “Givin’ Up”, leading to “Heart Explodes, “Japanese Prisoner of Love” and “Friday Night”. Audience lungs must have been at full capacity as it seemed everyone was belting out each lyric as best they could. Next was an absolute crowd pleaser as they mixed a musical medley of “Immigrant Song”, “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)”, “Supersonic”, and “Cigarettes and Alcohol”. Rounding off the night was “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” and “I Hate Myself”.
Every single moment of The Darkness was mesmerising, engaging and pure entertainment. It was a love note to the fans, to Belfast and to the world. The riffs, rhythms and joyful sound was infectious beyond reckoning. It was really what was needed for a great Saturday night out to leave all your woes behind. Their new album ‘Dreams on Toast’ was released in March this year and they have a year full of tour dates on their website.
Overall, the night was just filled with that much smiling, the rapturous rock of all three bands was absolutely magnificent. The real highpoint for the local crowd was of course having the surprise performance from Eric Bell.
The Darkness were sultry, magnificent and unstoppable with their manic marvelousness of monumental rock music. Ash were well honed experts of high energy pop punk rock delighting everyone with their on-point set. And Bad Nerves were far from it with a confident rock presence that kept everyone on their toes and rocking out as energetically as they could.
What an experience. What a night. What a huge crowd full of contented smiles and laughs.
Well played, Custom House Square. Well played.
