In 2003, British rockers The Darkness took the world by storm with their smash hit single ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ and the award-winning, chart-topping, multi-platinum debut album Permission to Land. Then, at the height of their fame in 2006, the band split up and fell off the music radar.
Nine years later, director, and renowned celebrity portrait and beauty photographer, Simon Emmett (Underhill) followed The Darkness on their long, rocky and hilarious comeback trail. From a small pub gig in the middle of nowhere with the ambition of performing at packed arena shows once again, Welcome to The Darkness shows the stark reality of a ‘cult band’ struggling to recapture former glory.
20 years on from their platinum-selling debut, Justin Hawkins, his brother Dan Hawkins, eccentric bassist Frankie Poullain, and new drummer Rufus Taylor tell their story, in their own words of The Darkness’ comeback tale.
With unprecedented access, unseen archive footage, and intimate interviews filmed over eight years, Welcome to The Darkness is a tongue-in-cheek reflection on fame, failure, friendship and forgiveness. At its heart, this is a unique account of a band of brothers who are still haunted by the demons that ripped them apart. A band who can defiantly laugh in the face of adversities in their ultimate quest for happiness and redemption.
Permission To Land was originally released in 2003 via Atlantic Records and stormed to the top of the UK Albums chart, where it remained for four weeks, and spent 53 weeks in the Top 100. It achieved the band three BRIT Awards, including British Album Of The Year, British Group and British Rock Act, where they fended off competition from the likes of Blur, Radiohead, Sugababes, Muse, Primal Scream and more. The record has sold over 3.5 million copies to date, with 1.8m in the UK alone.
Welcome To The Darkness, a feature-length documentary about the band, will be in cinemas nationwide for ONE NIGHT ONLY on November 9th (+ encores), and available on digital download and Blu-ray from December 4th. Book your tickets here:
welcometothedarkness.co.uk
Permission To Land… Again; a special 20th Anniversary reissue collection, was released on October 6th 2023 via Warner Music. The Darkness will be touring the UK from Dec 2nd until Dec 22nd. Full tour dates can be found here - https://www.thedarknesslive.com/tour-dates/
