The parody was as acute as ever but the subject matter has yellowed. A quarter century ago, when memories of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were still warm, This Is Spinal Tap’s portrait of a fading British heavy metal band was perfectly timed. Now it’s a museum piece, superseded by post-Tap parody acts such as The Darkness, whose singer Justin Hawkins made a worshipful guest appearance.

Read the full article at www.ft.com

Read more | 03 Jul 2009

No matter how witty they may be, few satires or novelty songs repay repeated listening. So how come a packed Wembley is rocking to the soundtrack of a mockumentary that appeared a quarter of a century ago?

Read more | 02 Jul 2009

At Spinal Tap's Wembley (London UK) show last night, Justin joined them on stage for a rendition of Big Bottom playing the amazing looking 'Shuttle Bass'!

You can see some pictures at www.wireimage.com
And read an early review at www.chortle.co.uk

Also clips are starting to appear on Youtube:

| 01 Jul 2009

Justin Hawkins, ex-frontman of the spandex clad four-piece The Darkness, is not renowned for his low key entrances.

On past tours, The Darkness faithful have not only been witness to an extreme range of costume changes and a barrage of pyrotechnics but on his last tour they also got to see the band's lead singer flying over their heads astride a life-sized tiger.

But according to Justin, now fronting up his new band Hot Leg, this will be nothing compared to the entrance he's got planned for this year's Moonfest 2009.

Read more | 30 Jun 2009

When The Darkness first came out, the most common discussion topic about them was always about whether or not they were being ironic. The snobbier critics and indie kids tended to want to believe that they were doing it as near-parody, and the classic rock true believers wanted to believe that they were totally sincere. Of course, both sides of the argument were totally ridiculous. They couldn’t possibly be doing it 100% straight faced, otherwise it’d look more like Jet or Buckcherry, whose intentions were too base and unremarkable to ever be questioned by anyone. And they couldn’t be doing as straight parody, either, otherwise there’s no way they’d be doing such a great job of it. Rather, the appeal of The Darkness was that they viewed classic rock the same way that most people in the 21st century with half a brain and half a heart did–a genre of occasional ridiculous, poorly-dated cliches, which nonetheless continued to tap more effectively into the pleasure centers of listeners than just about any other style of music.

Read more | 30 Jun 2009

Further to the news of Moonfest getting it's licence, Justin did a phone interview with BBC radio Wiltshire this afternoon. You can listen again to the interview for the next 7 days on BBC's iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p003hxcm/Lee_Stone_29_06_2009. The feature on moonfest starts around 40 minutes into the show.

| 29 Jun 2009

The Moonfest 2009 festival will go ahead in Westbury after the organisers received a licence even though last year’s festival was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

Undeterred, John Green, organiser of Moonfest, pressed on with organising this year’s festival, which will be headlined by former Darkness frontman, Justin Hawkins and his new band Hot Leg, at Storridge Farm, Westbury, on August 30.

Read more | 29 Jun 2009

| 20 Jun 2009

Telstar - The Movie, a British-made biopic of the 1960s music producer Joe Meek is in UK Cinema's from tomorrow (19th June).
The film stars Justin Hawkins as Screaming Lord Sutch, in his first movie role.



For more info check out www.telstarthemovie.co.uk

| 18 Jun 2009

Former The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins joined Steel Panther on stage last night at London's Club 229.
Hawkins - who now fronts Hot Leg - helped perform the LA heavy metal legends' hit, Party All Day (Fuck All Night), which he contributed vocals to on the band's debut album, Feel The Steel.

Frontman Michael Starr told the sold-out crowd:

"[Justin] was in LA when we were in Vegas and he went into the studio and cut this track for us, except it was so bad we had to get some other guy who sounds a bit like him to redo it. But you guys won't be able to tell the difference."

Read more | 17 Jun 2009