Black Stone Cherry & The Darkness

With Support

from

Danko Jones

Liverpool M&S Arena

29/1/23

‘Black Stone Cherry‘ returned to Liverpool to play the M&S Bank Arena on their co-headline tour with ‘The Darkness‘ after playing in Liverpool last year at the O2 Academy. 

I’ve been a fan of Black Stone Cherry and The Darkness for a long time so when I heard about the tour announcement I was hyped and knew it was one to not miss! Like Black Stone Cherry and The Darkenss on the same stage, on the same night! Are you freaking kidding me?! One of my bucket lists was to photograph one, not two of my all-time favourite bands and it’s defiantly come true tonight. From waking up on the day to when they came on stage I was excited even if I didn’t know what to expect on the night.

(Danko Jones_Credit: Sarah Sidwell)

First up on the lineup was ‘Danko Jones‘ a Canadian hard rock trio from Toronto formed in 1996. I’d heard of the band before the tour was announced but only knew a few of their songs so I was a bit curious about how they would perform but wow! They didn’t disappoint at all, they got the crowd going and all pumped for the night ahead. They gave it their all and put on a fantastic performance, enjoying every minute of their set, they used the entire stage, running from side to side and interacting with the audience.

Hard rock and punk do live simultaneously! I highly recommend giving this band a listen if you are into rock music. 

Next up we have ‘British Rock Music icons, ‘The darkness‘, formed in 2000 they exploded into the rock world bringing back the flair of the glam rock bands of the 80s, with hits such as “I Believe in a Thing Called Love“, “Love Is Only a Feeling” and “Christmas Time” to name but a few, they then had a break but came back 2011- to the present. I knew they were going to be incredible live though but after seeing them perform I was blown away. They came on stage full of energy but after playing the first song there was a little mishap with the flames, making the fire alarm go off with one of the lights catching a little flame. The staff in the venue were amazing and evacuated everyone while they sorted it out (No mean feat in an area).

(The Darkness_Credit: Sarah Sidwell)

Soon, thanks to the amazing venue staff, The Darkness were back on stage, although sadly the fire alarm led to their set getting cut short so the whole gig still finished on time. This didn’t stop them from having a good time though and playing like the rock heroes that they are! They didn’t stop for a second and really put on a show with all the fire/flames. Justin even got off the stage and jumped onto someone’s back and walked amongst the crowd. After being in the music industry for a long period of time these guys really know how to put on a show and how to get the crowd in a good mood, dancing and singing along and just having a good time and of course, it wouldn’t be a Darkness set without the song “I believe in a thing called love“, of which everyone was singing and dancing along to the whole time.

It’s an odd occurrence having two main headlines on a show, especially when each band fills out arenas on their own, so this is just monumental! What a night this has been so far!

Next and lastly we have the band I’ve personally wanted to see for years.

(Black Stone Cherry_Credit: Sarah Sidwell)

Black Stone Cherry all the way from Kentucky, America, who formed in 2001. The band has released seven studio albums as well as two EPs and has charted seventeen singles on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. Their latest album, The Human Condition, was released in 2020.

As the lights went off and they came on stage the crowd went wild, I don’t think they could have gotten any louder. They started the night off with one of their most known songs “Me and Mary Jane“, the memories I have attached to this song are so dear to me, reminding me about friends from Uni way back when. I must admit seeing them perform it live brought a tear to my eye.

As the night went on the band played one of their most popular songs, including  “Blame it on the boom boom“, with vocalist Chris Robertson saying “this is why we love playing Liverpool” because there was not a single person in that arena standing still during that song!

(Black Stone Cherry_Credit: Sarah Sidwell)

The set producers banger after banger and what a night it has been! They finish their set and come back on for the encore and play one last song, “Don’t bring me down”  which they released in 2020 and it really made the night.

I saw black stone cherry live once before, back when they played at the 02 Academy in Liverpool last year, so I knew they would be amazing live!

I honestly think they went all out with this arena gig, they were incredible and blew the roof off the place. 

Review and Photography: Sarah Sidwell

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