Showbiz News
-
-
-
Loading
Loading
The Darkness are officially cranking their amps back up to full volume, announcing a huge UK arena tour for 2026, their biggest in 20 years. Fans of the band’s high-voltage riffs, unmistakable falsetto vocals, and unapologetic glam-rock swagger are already buzzing with excitement, as the beloved British rockers prepare to take their theatrical live show to a whole new level.
The tour announcement comes hot on the heels of their major support performance with Iron Maiden at Knebworth Park on July 11, a gig that reunited The Darkness with tens of thousands of rock fans and proved their enduring ability to command a massive stage. With that momentum behind them, Justin Hawkins and his bandmates are gearing up for a seven-date arena run that promises to be loud, unapologetically flamboyant, and packed with hits.
Kicking off on December 8 at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, the tour will roll through major cities before concluding with a triumphant O2 Arena date in London on December 16. For fans who’ve followed the band since their spectacular early-2000s breakthrough, this tour marks a significant moment, their return to the country’s biggest stages after two decades of reinvention, resilience, and continued musical output.
Speaking about the upcoming tour, frontman Justin Hawkins offered a statement that perfectly captures the band’s tongue-in-cheek charm:
“Powerful rock was designed to be played in huge rectangular buildings. Huge rectangular buildings were designed to house powerful rock bands. The Darkness are a powerful rock band and the arenas listed below are huge rectangular buildings. Except for the exception which proves the rule.”
It’s classic Hawkins, humorous, theatrical, and delivered with total sincerity underneath the cheekiness. And it’s exactly why The Darkness remain one of the UK’s most beloved modern rock acts.
Fans can expect a setlist featuring the band’s biggest hits, including “I Believe in a Thing Called Love,” “Love Is Only a Feeling,” “Growing on Me,” and tracks from across their seven-album catalogue. The band, known for their dazzling costumes and high-energy performances, are expected to bring plenty of spectacle to match the scale of the arenas they’ll be filling.
The Darkness rose to international fame in 2003 with their debut album Permission to Land, which became a rock phenomenon and won them three BRIT Awards. Their flamboyant stage presence, retro-glam aesthetic, and infectious hooks quickly established them as a band unlike anything else on the British music scene. Two decades on, they continue to entertain fans with the same larger-than-life energy that made them a household name.
Pre-sale for the arena tour opens on November 26, with general sale starting on November 28. Given the band’s resurgence following their Knebworth appearance and growing demand for big, nostalgic rock shows, tickets are expected to move fast.
Tour Dates – December 2026
8 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
9 – Leeds, FD Arena
11 – Manchester, AO Arena
12 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
13 – Cardiff, Utilita Arena
15 – Brighton, Brighton Centre
16 – London, The O2
With their biggest tour in decades on the horizon, The Darkness are ready to remind the UK exactly why they became rock royalty in the first place, and why, all these years later, nobody does it quite like them.
