The Darkness Lights Up Varsity Theater!
Friday shows have a certain flavor to savor. People are finally checked out of their typical work week and ready to party. The energy that brings to a show can be so electric, the addition of it being a Varsity show means it will be just a little better than average.
Been going to the Varsity Theater for shows since I started going to concerts. Not only do they have the coolest bathrooms this side of the Mississippi, but they consistently book great and unique music talents. Plus, their beer isn’t a million dollars like every other venue seems to be these days. Extra boozy cherry on top for this gal. Only rough rub is the dreaded parking. Since it’s nestled into Dinky Town and has the hustle and bustle of the U of M to deal with, finding a spot can be tricky. Only took me a few passes through the neighborhoods to find a meter for only $2 a hour about a block away. Hooray!
Touch of rain earlier, but the clouds were holding out the drizzle thankfully. Doors opened around 7pm, already a nice line out front. Not the typical sea of black shirts, plenty of cool kid hipsters hanging out amongst the rocker boys and chunky heeled well-tailored gals. Only about five minutes, and I was in the theater. A short gander past the merch table on my way to the main bar, The Darkness had tour shirts for $45 and Mark Daly for $30. This is what I like to see. Reasonable fan-friendly pricing. Extra brownie points all around for this show, my tallboy IPA was only a little more than ten bucks after tax. Affordability is such a rare diamond it seems in modern entertainment. It truly delights me seeing not only the bands’ merch but the big money maker (booze) wasn’t hiked up outrageously. I mention price when reviewing cause it really makes a difference when people think about going to a concert or event these days. Those few dollars more a drink (let’s be frank, sometimes it’s $20 for A BEER at some places) may deter someone from seeing a show a month versus a rare annual attendance. Cheers to The Varsity Theater, The Darkness, and Mark Daly for putting fans first!
Hailing from beautiful County Cork, Ireland (which is actually where my Irish roots are from,) Mark Daly got his first beam of limelight performing with The Voodoos during an MTW EMA Awards after beating out more than 10,000 other bands for the slot. Not too shabby.
Show started at 7:55pm, giving enough time for people to chat and settle in before music kicked off. Floor was decently full, upstairs area was also standing room only. Cracking open the set with song “This Is Love” flooded in the good vibes immediately. Guitar was real groovy, drums energetic but not too crazy right away. Audience started swaying along and was won over quickly. Being first support, can’t imagine how intimidating certain shows can be. You know people are there not for you, hope you can win a few over either as new listeners, or at least “tolerate” you while doing what you love enough not to heckle. Takes a biiiiig shiny spine and courage no matter what talent you possess or light tech to add a bit of pizzazz. Well, they lassoed us all in on song number one. Every bandmate worked so well together, finding their light just right while jamming out. Great expressions and so animated.
Heartwarming moment alert: Mark, Noah’s son, was having a birthday that he would be missing. The entire theater came together take a video to wish him a happy birthday mid-set. Daly’s first solo venture hit that reached number one on the Scottish New Music Charts was “Your World.” Being so far away from your child on their special day must be so difficult, happy our warm Twin Cities congrats was sent his way!
Got a bit steamy waiting for The Darkness who got on around 9:00pm. Not sure if it was close to sold out or not, great people watching in the crowd. Having not seen The Darkness for over a decade, seeing how pumped everyone was getting made it even more fun.
The British group was formed by brothers Justin and Dan Hawkins who are playing guitar and singing in the group together. Glad to see the fever is still their in their fanbase since its been 25 years since starting back in 2000, Lowestoft, UK. Releasing their eighth studio album in March 2025, “Dreams On Toast,” the group has oodles of hot tunes to play. I know their first big juicy was 2003 smash record “Permission To Land” that has billboard favorites like “I Believe In A Thing Called Love,” they are catchy and fun. My personal favorite album, and one of my first cut-out cds from working at FYE, is “One Way Ticket To Hell…And Back.” Every song on that album has a slightly different energy but melts well into each other. Make sure you pop it on for a delish dive into a new-to-you album that may turn into a fav staple. And it’s 10 songs and only 38 minutes long…just add it to your next playlist.
Guess I should explain what a Cut-Out actually is since it’s a pretty much a dead term. For anyone who didn’t work at a record store back in the day, cut-outs where cds or albums given to the stores at deep discounts/free when an artist would release new stuff, extras not getting sold fast enough, returns that were too good to throw out, etc. The “cut-out” is a literal thing. Physically the container or case had to be adulterated or cut to make sure it couldn’t be resold without pawn shops or other stores knowing. I have an ample collection of them from my music and movie store retail days. “One Way Ticket To Hell…And Back” was a prized one that was being eyeballed by a few of my fellow employees at the time. The dusty showbox where we kept the cut-outs was calling my name, we were allowed only one per shift to take home.
Opening up the set with the shredlicious song “Rock And Roll Party Cowboy,” The Darkness got to work on the party indeed. Seeing such fast and accurate guitar playing by Dan Hawkins reminded me again why I have such an affinity to rock and metal music. The third and final song I got to photograph during was one of my all-time earworm obsessions. “Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman” is one of those songs you wish you could sing like Justin for, but its just too fun not to try anyways. Also has one of the best vocal interpretations of the phrase MF-er. Trust me. You’ll be singing (or trying) it like him after a listen. The Varsity has solid sound and being a smaller venue, anywhere in the space you can see and appreciate the show. After snapping pics, went upstairs to check out the aura up there. The entire balcony seating area was rocking out. I like hanging out up there after getting into the action on the floor. Great couches to chill on and you get that bird’s eye view for a new perspective. After a sickening 18 song performance including a “Fat Bottom Girls” cover for the encore, took a happy slow stroll back to my car in the clean late September darkness.
