Gig Reviews: The Darkness, Three Litre & ChrisKilledAnna @ Reading Fez Club (27 November 2002)

by Steph Gallon

The lineup tonight is an interesting one to say the least. Three genre bending acts lined up to perform for the, well shall we say, less than forgiving music moguls of the Reading Fez Club and its fast becoming legendary Wednesday night live music night. Having played host to some of the biggest up and coming bands of the moment including The Kennedy Soundtrack, [Spunge] and Capdown, tonight’s bands have their work cut out.

First up are ChrisKilledAnna, a young lineup that can’t seem to decide what genre they want to fit into. This could make them interesting, but these guys just come across as confused and experimental. The lead can no doubt sing, but again he can’t decide how he wants to sound, with vocals swinging from powerful roaring not unlike Serge Tankian, to Drag-Queen-esque notes, hitting Liam Gallagher somewhere in between the two. Apart from that, their songs are samey, and there’s nothing to watch except the lead singers angst ridden face, because the others all look bored. There’s undoubted talent here, it just needs some direction.

So not off to a great start, but things look up with Three Litre taking to the stage. With their next single entitled ‘I Hate Christmas’, classic lyrics such as ‘Meow meow meow (repeat several hundred times)’ and a ten minute ‘rock epic’ you can’t help but like them. These guys take their music seriously, but don’t like to be taken seriously, a brilliant formula for success, as shown by the obvious comparison to Tenacious D - with both the lead singers exhibiting similar comical styling. Entertaining from the tentative beginning to the crowd winning end.

Finally tonight’s headliners The Darkness take to the stage. The entrance alone should be award winning for points on appearance, with leather trousers, broad smiles, and a bass player that resembles a cross between a ninja and a 70’s porn star, including the moustache - top notch stuff. From the very beginning The Darkness are exhilarating and a pleasure to watch, with thrashing old school metal riffs, heartbreakingly solid vocals and jumping and thrashing aplenty. The Darkness are constantly moving, entertaining, and most importantly interacting with the crowd, making them very much deserving of their headlining spot tonight, and up there with the best of them.