see pictures from the Gig on Gigwise…

• by Jamie Milton
• 07 August 2008
• Photo by: WENN

today’s top showbiz

By Jody Thompson, Mirror.co.uk 7/08/2008

Justin Hawkins

It’s Thursday, and we here at Mirror.co.uk’s Showbiz Towers have been thinking about historical moments in musical history, as one is wont to do.

Granted, we weren’t at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1966 to see Bob Dylan called a Judas, nor were we there to see the Sex Pistols in 1976 and we didn’t bother going to see the Stone Roses at Spike Island in 1990.

However, we were there when Richey from the Manic Street Preachers carved ‘4 Real’ into his arm in 1991 (and took him to hospital afterwards), we did see Nirvana’s last ever UK gig at Reading Festival in 1992 – and last night, we were privileged to be at the first ever Hot Leg gig.

Who are Hot Leg, you cry? Well, they’re the new band from Justin Hawkins, former frontman of The Darkness. They debuted last night at Camden’s Proud to mark two years to the day that Justin’s been sober – having beaten the booze and drugs demons that caused him to leave The Darkness in the first place.

And boy, are we glad to have him back, as bar his brief attempt to represent Britain at last year’s Eurovision Song Contest, he’s been gone for far too long as we need more popstars like him who really don’t take themselves too seriously.

So what are Hot Leg like? Pretty much like The Darkness really, only a bit more flamboyant (if that were possible), a bit more proper metal but still hilariously funny. You can check out a bit of them tackling a cover of Jennifer Rush’s Eighties power ballad The Power Of Love by clicking here.

And just for old times’ sake, they finished with The Darkness’ I Believe In A Thing Called Love. Okay, it might not have been a milestone in rock, but frankly, we’ll be grinning about the gig for a good few days to come yet, it was that good. Welcome back to the world of showbiz, Justin.

mirror.co.uk

Hot Leg are embarking on a mini-tour of the UK

Former Darkness singer Justin Hawkins has made his live comeback, unveiling his new band Hot Leg two years after suffering a drug-induced breakdown.

Wearing skin-tight tiger-print trousers, the flamboyant frontman returned to the high-octane, high-camp rock with which he made his name.

It was his first gig since leaving The Darkness, who won three Brit Awards in 2004 and scored five UK top 10 hits.

Hawkins quit the group in 2006 amid a high-profile drug battle.

“It’s the first time I’ve done a proper music concert in a couple of years,” he told the crowd of several hundred at Proud Galleries in Camden, north London.

“I think in the time since then I’ve suffered what you might call a breakdown.”

Hawkins sported pink fingernails at his new band’s first full gig

But the singer was back on form, performing familiar stage theatrics to an enthusiastic reception with his three new bandmates.

He closed the show with one of his former band’s biggest hits, I Believe in a Thing Called Love.

Hot Leg also played cover versions of two 1980s hits called The Power of Love – one by Jennifer Rush and the other by Huey Lewis and the News.

They are now continuing their mini-tour in Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.

bbc.co.uk

digitalspy

If you had the pre-conceived idea that Justin Hawkins was a flamboyant dressing, novelty rock anthem yelping, glam-rock show-off, then you won’t need much introduction to his new band, Hot Leg. Playing his first gig for two years, Hawkins has been through a breakdown, rehab and the messy break-up of The Darkness, to surface once again and try to take Hot Leg to the top, starting at Camden’s Proud Galleries.

After that two year hiatus, you might think that Hawkins would come back with some fresh ideas or a new take on modern popular music. But why should he? The Darkness were successful and had number one album, so he’s surely within his rights to stick with the same Led Zeppelin on acid style. After all, this shows integrity, loyalty to a genre and determination to make it to the top the way he wants to.

Everything you expect from Hawkins is here. The tiger pants, the headbands, undoubted enthusiasm, and lets face it, the man knows how to put on a show. He constantly addresses the crowd, enticing a chant of ‘Hot Leg’ and engaging in a bizarre scream-off with guitarist Peter Rinaldi to see who can reach the highest pitch. Needless to say, the crowd love it.

But are the sing-along anthems that made The Darkness so popular present? The ingredients are certainly here: face melting solos, epic drum endings, scream till you burst vocals. Despite this, nothing really sticks in your head the way ‘I Believe in a Thing Called Love’ did and the riffs blur into one-another in an undistinguishable manner. Mid-set the band begins a song a cappella, bringing much needed change to proceedings.

Strutting around the stage violently thrusting his pelvis forward, Hawkins screamed out ‘Trojan Guitar’ and ‘Heroes’ (both up on the bands MySpace page), to the glee of the ponytail-heavy crowd, but it’s the set-closer, the aforementioned ‘I Believe…’ brings the biggest cheer of the night.

Certainly unique amongst the music scene today, and lacking no gusto or ability to visually entertain, it would seem Hot Leg have a market to appeal to. Chart success could be beyond them on this showing, but who honestly thought ‘Permission to Land’ would receive five-platinum status? The epic sound of Hot Leg could be about to hit your radio, whether you like it or not.

tourdates.co.uk

stereoboard.com