The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins is featured in a new interview conducted by professional opera singer and vocal coach Elizabeth Zharoff, who also hosts a YouTube channel, The Charismatic Voice.

Hawkins: "I'm in a privileged position to be able to chat to renowned opera singer and vocal coach Elizabeth Zharoff aka  The Charismatic Voice.  Elizabeth has multiple degrees in music and voice from Oberlin Conservatory, Berklee College of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music.

Elizabeth started The Charismatic Voice YouTube Channel seven years ago in an effort to focus on education and teaching voice to the masses. She is incredibly knowledgable about how the voice works, and I really enjoyed talking to her. I learned a lot. I think you’ll find this episode really fascinating whether or not you’re a vocalist or not. What makes a great voice? Let's find out."

Justin Hawkins performed the Van Halen classics "On Fire", "Hot For Teacher" and "Panama" at the recent tribute shows for late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Fan-filmed video is available below.

2023 finds Britain’s beloved rock band, The Darkness, celebrating 20 years since they birthed Permission To Land, the multi-platinum, chart-topping debut album which changed the face of rock music forever. To celebrate the landmark occasion, The Darkness will embark on a world tour later this year.

The band has announced 13 European dates on the Permission To Land 20 tour, with many more jaw-dropping, show-stopping concerts around the world to be revealed shortly.

Frontman Justin Hawkins comments: “When Permission to Land landed, twenty short years ago, we were bathed in shock and awe. As if by magic, Rock wasn’t dead! Fun wasn’t banned! And Spandex was almost acceptable again…

Well, guess what? Twenty years on, the same rules apply. So please to squeeze yourselves into those inappropriate leggings, back-comb your mullet, splash on a big handful of attitude, and come celebrate with us! We promise everything and we deliver, every time. Bring on the next twenty!

“The Darkness. The best. For you. Forever.”

The shows promise to be a grand spectacle with the band playing the much-lauded, award-winning, foot-stomping, guitar-wailing, groove-making masterpiece in full. Kicking off with the splendid rifferama of ‘Black Shuck’ they’ll blast their way through all of Permission To Land’s 11 tracks, including ‘Growing On Me’, ‘Love Is Only A Feeling’, ‘Giving Up’, ‘Love On The Rocks With No Ice’, ‘Get Your Hands Off My Woman’ and of course the iconic ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’.

In addition to that splendid confection of rock brilliance, Justin, Dan, Frankie and Rufus will pump out a bonus ‘Best Of The Rest’ set, stuffed to the gills with all the hits and fan favourites from their six subsequent studio albums. It’s enough to make any right-thinking music fan go weak at the knees!

There will also be a very special expanded Permission To Land deluxe album release coming later this year via Warner Music, with further details to be revealed soon.

The first round of dates have been confirmed, as follows:

November
7 - Berlin, Germany - Admiralspalast
8 - Hamburg, Germany - Markthalle
9 - Cologne, Germany - Essigfabrik
11 - Munich, Germany - Technikum
13 - Rome, Italy - Orion
14 - Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
15 - Modena, Italy - Vox
17 - Prattlen, Switzerland - Z7
18 - Luxembourg - Den Atelier 
20 - Bern, Switzerland - Muhle Hunziken
22 - Brussels, Belgium - AB
23 - Paris, France - La Cigale          
24 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg Max

Tickets for these European shows will be on sale from Friday, March 24th here.