British glam rock band The Darkness have announced a bumper headline UK and Ireland tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album Permission To Land. The winter tour will commence on December 2nd at The Telegraph Building in Belfast and will conclude at The Wulfrum At The Halls in Wolverhampton on December 16th, and will see the band perform their seminal debut album in full, along with a series of favourites from their subsequent six albums.

⚡️UK & Ireland Tour 2023⚡️
You have all been very patient. We are VERY EXCITED to announce the dates for our Permission to Land 20th Anniversary UK & Ireland Tour! We can’t wait to celebrate this very important birthday with you. See you all soon!

Tickets go on sale Friday at… pic.twitter.com/OsWLYHxIsr

— The Darkness (@thedarkness) July 3, 2023

Lead singer and frontman Justin Hawkins, in a recent press release, has said of the tour, “We, The Darkness, are delighted to announce that we’ll be hitting the road in the U.K. once again. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of Permission to Land, our set will include every song from our debut album faithfully reproduced (with additional clam notes and meanderings) in the order in which they appear on the record. We’ll also play all of your favourite Darkness songs from the rest of our illustrious and tipsy turvy career. It will be the best show you’ll see this year. I should know, I’m the singer and also a YouTube music expert.”

The Darkness formed in 2000 in Lowestoft with an initial line-up of Justin Hawkins (lead vocals, lead guitar) , his brother Dan Hawkins (guitar), Frankie Poullain (bass) and Ed Graham (drums). The group released their debut seminal album, Permission To Land, in 2003 to widespread critical acclaim, with the album topping the UK Albums Chart and achieving quadruple platinum status after 1.3 million copies were sold. This album also contained the hit single “I Believe in a Thing Called Love“, by far the band’s most popular track.

Watch the music video for “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” below:

The group released their second album, One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back in 2005 but disbanded in 2006 following the departure of Justin Hawkins. The group reunited in 2011, however, and have gone on to release a further five albums, all to reasonably favourable receptions. Their latest album, Motorheart, was released in October 2021.

Watch the music video for “Motorheart” below:

An expanded Permission To Land deluxe album is also set to be released later this year via Warner Music, with details to be released by the band soon.

See below for tour dates:

02/12/2023 – The Telegraph Building – Belfast
03/12 – 3Olympia – Dublin
08/12 – UEA – Norwich
09/12 – Roundhouse – London
11/12 – Barrowland – Glasgow
12/12 – New Century Hall – Manchester
14/12 – Beacon – Bristol
15/12 – Rock City – Nottingham
16/12 – The Wulfrum At The Halls – Wolverhampton

Tour tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 7th July and can be purchased here.