The Darkness Bring the 'Dreams on Toast' Tour to Salt Lake City
November 24, 2025
This past Friday, November 21st, rock lovers flocked to The Depot in downtown Salt Lake City as British rock stars The Darkness brought their Dreams on Toast Tour to Utah. They were joined by Irish rockers, Mark Daly, who set the tone for what would become a night packed with riffs, playful theatrics and rock-n-roll chaos.
Mark Daly Fires Up the Crowd
Opening the night, Mark took the stage to a growing crowd and instantly earned their attention. Daly’s set blended modern rock with heavier edges, giving the early crowd a show. Engaging with the audience throughout his set, at one point Daly announced they would be playing their song that went straight to number one on the Irish charts, before casually adding,” I don’t really pay attention to the charts, I assume it did,” cracking up at his joke and getting the crowd in on it as well.
The Darkness Explode onto Stage
By the time the lights dimmed for The Darkness, the crowd had more than doubled in size. Fans were ready for the rock spectacle that The Darkness live shows have become known for. The band wasted no time in giving fans what they wanted, launching right into “Rock and Roll Party Cowboy,” one of their singles from their eighth studio album.
From the jump the band introduced new music to the crowd and balanced their set with classics and new material alike. Longtime fans loved the classics, and it was a great way to introduce casual fans to their latest material, weaving it into their show seamlessly.
Pure Rock Theatrics
If anyone came expecting a tame show they were quickly corrected. Frontman Justin Hawkins was everywhere all at once it seemed, moving from the front of the stage melting faces, to doing handstands on the drum riser. The rest of the band moved around playing riffs and beats that tied the performance all together.
The magic of the live shows from The Darkness has always been their mix of seriousness and gleeful playfulness blended with their pure rock sound. Salt Lake City got to see this on full display as Hawkins teased coming out into the crowd saying it would happen later, prompting a fan to yell back, “Don’t be scared!” Hawkins smiled and shrugged and said, “Screw it,” jumping down, over the rail and into the crowd. Fans mobbed around him shouting lyrics and dancing with him, turning the chaotic moment into core memories. As promised Hawkins would return to the crowd later performing “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” in the middle of the club surrounded by the fans
Moshing for “The Power of Love”
In one of the most memorable moments of the night, the band asked the crowd to open up the pits or form walls as they ripped into a cover of Jennifer Rush’s “The Power of Love.” A mosh pit to “The Power of Love?” It was my first time seeing something like that and I loved every minute of it as did the rest of the venue.
The rest of the set was everything fans hoped for, high-octane rock, blistering guitar riffs, and the kind of on stage charisma that feels like it came from rock’s golden era. The energy between the band and the fans was visible in the shouting lyrics and pumping of fists.
Is true rock and roll still alive? The Darkness put on a display of it, not in an arena but in a packed music hall club.
