Lady Gaga’s concert in Bucharest raised a gamut of reactions, some positive, some negative, some focused more on details, i.e when in the middle of the concert she announced that she had to vomit, and apologised for disappearing backstage.
This ‘detail’ became headline in the next day’s newspapers, with Gaga being more criticised on how ‘disgusting’ she is then on the quality of her show or performance. As Léon Zitrone’s say goes: ‘good or bad, just let them talk about me’.
I recognise, I am personally not a fan. But I found myself dancing occasionally at some of her songs if stuck in traffic or on birthdays.
Invited to Thursday concert she had in Bucharest, I was curious of how Gaga really is ‘live’. And if I will enjoy a whole concert by her, on a summer night with friends, thus be able to tell my grandchildren far down the line how ‘grandma had fun without prejudice’.
But who could have foreseen that I would be surprised by this experience? Having arrived late, I got a glimpse of the end of the first part of the concert, held – to my surprise – by no other then the famous rock group The Darkness. The song that welcomed me was ‘I believe in a thing called love’. What an unexpected evening – seeing again The Darkness performing and being on the top of their game. We first met in 2004, when they rose to fame. Those were the days when all the world wanted a piece of them. I interviewed them in Paris for the ELLE magazine. And at that time, I was a rookie. This was to be one of the warmest and open interviews I had – one I could never forget it.
On this high vibe, I welcomed Lady Gaga’s concert in a different light. The choice to open her show with a strong rock group such as The Darkness, I must confess blew me away.
The Darkness are a band with a strong background, talent, experience and skill. They are no rock ‘new-comers’ with polished good looks that sound all the same. After The Darkness, Gaga’s show contrasted quite well with a sustained ‘rock & 80’s’ vibe mix to it. I was expecting to find her show to be a ‘shock/trash/pop’ mix, for insecure teenagers. But no. I was quite convinces by her.
Gaga is far from being as physical as Madonna for example, that covers the lack of a strong voice by grand visual effects and strong dance routines. Yet, I preferred Gaga’s vocal and interpretation talents. Her dark jazzy trained voice quality stood out. It was nice to see that she didn’t use voice overs at any moment, and was clearly in control of her keyboards.
However, the aftermath of the show was that The Darkness were for me the real stars of Thursday night! And with it, I share with you here my interview with them..
Superstars in the UK and America, the glam-rock group The Darkness have been conquering Europe since 2000 – fast & furious. Even if some will keep debating more about Justin’s flamboyant stage appearances then about their music and talent, they are still very much applauded by their idols – Jimmy Page or Brian May.
Page’s daughter even joined them on their Australian tour in 2004 as their official tour-photographer. And Brian May was there as well.
Our interview takes place in a charming hotel in Paris, Montmartre. In spite of all the buzz caused by their three recent Brit Awards wins (best group, best album, best act), the band members are rambling cool & relaxed in the hotel’s reception hall. Tonight is their last European concert, ‘Thank you Paris’. Most of the media covering this event are from well known music magazines and TV channels. Some of those present are also more heavy rock looking then others (shaved heads & tattoos, piercings, etc). Outside their French PR, I’m the only girl journalist – perhaps because I’m the only “fashion” reporter ?
Justin Hawkins, the guitar prodigy, is talking with the on-tour stylist, Lucy Manning’s assistant. Manning is today not only their stylist. But also the friend from early school days to Dan (guitarist) & Justin (lead vocalist).
Lucy Manning works with the talented British designer Owen Gaster besides being The Darkness stylist. Gaster’s strong style influence, a fusion of ‘nice’n’sleazy punk’ & ‘Bohemia’, fits the rock stage to perfection.
Why the Thin Lizzy T-shirts?
‘My clothes were dirty. The T-shirt was a happy idea. Everyone agrees and our stylist is happy.’
Dan (guitarist, backing vocals) is tall, wears dark sun-glasses (‘Sorry! Got to hide yesterday’s hangover, have one of those faces today…’), has long hair and like his brother, enjoys natural good looks. Sonia Rykiel’s name pops up – Dan would like a lady’s belt..
‘You’ll laugh, I escaped the dressing torture, but I’ve got a real problem finding good accessories. I just want leather force bracelets and a belt!’
I asked if he’s seen the Helmut Lang bracelets as he would certainly like them. Good idea! He’ll go shopping at Galeries Lafayette! Then asks if I would I like to accompany him. It feels as if we’ve been friends for ages. Why not – but first, the interview! Frankie (bass) and Justin are ready. With a band name like ‘The Darkness’, and singing lyrics along the lines of ‘Get your hands off my woman’, I was somehow prepared for a rougher encounter I must confess.
Someone suddenly appears with a load of Mc Donald’s paper bags. The Darkness are hungry!
Frankie comes over for the interview. Tall and very pleasant in nature, he seems to listen attentively to what is said. He knows how to make one feel at ease. With a French mother and a Scottish father, Frankie was brought up in Scotland.
‘I’m using my mother’s name, Poullain, like that I can express my duality: two cultures – two civilisations.’
I asked him what he was thinking of at the moment they won the Brit Awards:
‘Frankly, nothing. With all the TV cameras on the side facing the awards, all the people behind, you don’t even know what’s happening.’
Then Justin arrives. He kisses me on both cheeks – French custom – then tries to flick his cigarette into his mouth several times. He blames the hangover, and finally succeeds in lighting it.
What crossed Justin’s mind at the Brit Awards?
‘Ho f…! We gotta go back to Germany! You know, we just didn’t get any time to celebrate! The show finished at 7. We had a few drinks, had to drive to the airport and fly back for a German show.’
Did the awards change anything?
‘Maybe too much confidence in ourselves!’ laughs Frankie.
Justin takes over: ‘I’ll tell you what, winning the Brits was great, but the real honour and privilege was winning the Elle Fashion Award the day before! Fashionable people don’t wear catsuits and stuff like that’.
At the ELLE Awards, when asked about his fetish, Justin explained how since the school days he used to wear scarves. People would go ‘Who the F*** do you think you are?’, and he would answer ‘My name is Justin Hawkins. I may be a f***, but one day I’ll be a rich f*** and people will admire my scarf-wearing abilities.’
How does it feel to be successfully stylish when one seeks musical success?
Justin laughs ‘It would be slightly disappointing to have success in style and not in music. Primarily we’re musicians. Probably in a week’s time what we do will be considered very, very un-stylish!’
Frankie agrees: ‘We did our best not to be stylish, probably because we decided to focus on the music.’
Justin’s catsuits are driving people crazy, he considers them as standard work wear – practical yet stylish.
‘I’m not tired of them, but the catsuit idea has reached its conclusion. Maybe capes would be my next step…’
Working with Lucy Manning?
‘It’s where we’ve got most of our stuff: we’ve known her for years. She’s worked with Kylie Minogue, she simply knows all the right people. I always wanted to look absolutely outrageous on stage and she’s the right person to develop it right.’
Justin gets very enthusiastic when it comes to the costume he had for the Brit Awards.
‘It was my design, with all the hair on the back and the gills. I wanted to look like a stickleback fish. The general idea was about Atlantis, Neptune. I wanted to include thunderbolts and flames. Owen Gaster has a very good eye, he interprets your vision with his direction. He’s a nut-case. I just talk about shapes. Catsuits is definitely my idea. Then I just let them develop it.’
Do the band members share the same showmanship?
‘Justin is the showman’ says Frankie. ‘We’re all different characters and dress according to that. It would be absolutely ridiculous to have 4 guys leaping & jumping on stage, or all wearing catsuits!’
What about off stage?
For Justin, the difference is between street-wear and stage-wear. Frankie goes for “rock-leisure-wear”, while Justin is quite fashion-conscious. ‘All these things I’m wearing now I went out and got myself.’ He talks about Dior and Hedi Sliman, but says he couldn’t find something in the new collection, though he loved the winter stuff.
Is shopping in Paris disappointing?
‘New York and Milan I find them very disappointing – very conservative for men’s clothes. Paris has a vibe, like Tokyo, it’s really fast-paced. Paris has got the right pace about it, but I don’t find it any more or any less disappointing for shopping. I guess I’m looking for that retail therapy and when you can’t find anything you like, you just get even more depressed!’
Though Frankie admits some maverick talent is operating in Camden, he thinks the mainstream is “wet”.
Apart from a scarf and a T-shirt, Justin wears a beautiful pair of trousers and a green crocodile Hermes bracelet. The pants have a rattle snake band on the side.
‘Now I have to get things specially made. In New york, there’s a company, Lost Art, that do stuff for me, Lenny Kravitz and Steve Tyler. The bloke is more a sculptor than a clothes maker. It takes weeks to make these trousers. He works in an ancient way, hand-stitching. They tried to send me these trousers when we were in Australia, but they didn’t get through Customs because of the rattlesnake: animal product!’
Both of them find it very difficult to find the right stuff to wear (I’m sure Dan & Ed would agree too), especially when you have specific rock-related tastes and don’t want to end up like a gay icon, à la David La Chapelle type.
They are tired, but a positive energy permeates them. How about holidays?
‘It’s been so long, a desert beach would be great.’ They’ve had only 2 weeks off, then 1 month to write the next album and again on the road until 14th of December. Justin asks again for a Coke which can’t find its way to our table.
My assistant gets up to hurry the drinks. Frankie would prefer an apple juice, or a cup of tea. ‘Du lait, s’il vous plaît!’ he says in an impressively good French.’You know, the milk in France is terrible’, Justin teases him.’That’s the homeless approach to making a cup of tea’.
‘It’s funny, says Frankie, everybody is asking us how we feel about the Brit Awards. We ain’t got time to feel anything, we’re simply too busy. All for the better.’ Justin agrees: ‘The day after the Brit Awards when everybody else that attended the ceremony was lying in bed with the worst hangovers ever, we were on TV in Germany. It would have been nice to sit back and celebrate and actually quantify what happened. But if we did that every time, people would ask us how come we never get any work done. So many things happened to us in the last year that we should party permanently!”
After an improvised photo session where I find myself sitting between Frankie & Justin, we’re checking the photos together. Justin loves it, Frankie is having fun. They are simple, modest and spontaneous. We leave the hotel for a last photo session at the loge of the Elysées Montmartre.
5pm: Fans that came specially from England are already waiting there for The Darkness. Autographs, photos, and once again – generosity. Once inside and on stage, Dan tries his guitar while Justin goes for…the drums!
They have so much fun together, it’s contagious. Frankie and Ed join them on stage. After a couple of Jimmy Page’s solos they attack the now iconic ‘I believe in a thing called love’. An electric vibe seems to travel through the small audience – all composed by the staff of the group. It is only the rehearsal.
8pm: The audience is waiting. Mainly 30 -40 year olds, loads of British fans. Suddenly, an ABBA song explodes on stage. The crowed are loving it! Justin appears. His costumes are diva-stuff! Yet, the soul and heart with which he gives himself entirely to his audience, show off his true nature. He makes efforts to speak in French, laughs, then involves the whole audience to become a part of every song.
Who’s birthday is it? “Frankie’s Mother’s birthday?”. We all start singing Happy Birthday.
The last song in their set includes Queen’s ‘We will rock you’. Of course, the audiences is absolutely delirious.
I expected a 30 minute interview about style with The Darkness – I ended up spending almost a whole day with them. Feels like I’m experiencing a crush on Dan. Yet I’m under Frankie’s charm. And I remain impressed and moved by Justin’s sensitivity…
Photo credits The Darkness (2004) by Matthias Clamer
