Credit: Ted Van Pelt

Justin Hawkins busts out The Darkness songs during the Taylor Hawkins Los Angeles tribute concert

Wed 28 September 2022 16:10, UK

At the London edition of the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert earlier this month, one of the highlights of the show was the frequent presence of Justin Hawkins, the helium-voiced frontman for British hard rockers The Darkness. Hawkins joined Hawkins’ former side-project, The Coattail Riders, for a few songs and even did his best impressions of David Lee Roth, Freddie Mercury, and Brian Johnson, the latter of which happened in front of the actual Brian Johnson.

As the tribute concert moved over to its second date in Taylor Hawkins’ home of Los Angeles, Justin Hawkins once again appeared as the jack of all trades, ready to step in and sing some of his friend’s favourite songs. Once again joining The Coattail Riders, Hawkins busted out two favourites from the previous concert, ‘It’s Over’ and ‘Range Rover Bitch’.

But Hawkins and The Coattail Riders weren’t done. The band also took on ‘Something About You’, the classic mid-80s synthpop song from British art rock group Level 42. Hawkins even welcomed Level 42 singer/bassist Mark King onto the stage to duet the track. As The Coattail Riders geared up for one more track, Hawkins strapped on a guitar and busted out the one song that most audience members associated with the singer.

That would be ‘I Believe In a Thing Called Love’, The Darkness’ signature song. Hawkins didn’t get the chance to play it at the London version of the tribute concert, but he made damn sure he was going to hit those high notes this time around. Even better, Hawkins returned to the stage with Grohl, Josh Freese, and Wolfgang Van Halen to reprise their Van Halen tribute, this time diving into the 1984 classic ‘Panama’.

The Los Angeles version of the show was a rousing success, even if it wasn’t broadcast worldwide like the London version of the concert was. Among the many highlights were Violet Grohl’s emotional cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ to open the show, Miley Cyrus’ duet with Def Leppard on ‘Photograph’, and Joan Jett’s return to The Runaways catalogue with ‘Cherry Bomb’.

Watch Hawkins perform ‘It’s Over’, ‘Something About You’, and ‘Panama’ down below.