What a delight it is to have The Darkness roll through town. The veteran British rockers are touring to promote their latest album, Dreams on Toast, and brought their always fun party to Washington, DC’s Lincoln Theatre Sunday night.
Taking the Lincoln Theatre stage ahead of schedule, supporting artist Mark Daly brings classic rock sensibility with an Irish flair to the tour. Hailing from Cork, Ireland, Daly was discovered in Spain when music manager Brian Message attended a gig by Daly’s band, The Voodoos. Impressed by the band’s raw, hard rock sound, Daly and his crew were brought to London, where they recorded an EP. Since then, Daly has worked and toured with the likes of Geoff Tate, Ritchie Kotzen, and producer Brian Virtue.
On Sunday night in DC, Daly brought the fire during a quick set showcasing his songwriting. Several of the songs (such as “Better Off Alone” and “I Wanna Be More”) come from Devil’s Arms, released last year. Daly clearly shows that his keeping the spirit of classic rock alive, and the fans at the Lincoln Theatre showed that in 2025 there is still an audience for it. Daly expressed his appreciation for American audiences, pointing out his observation that they always show up to support the opening act. The crowd, who were mostly seated during the set, responded well to Daly and his band, and rewarded him with a standing ovation at the end.
Against a black backdrop with “The Darkness” emblazoned in red, The Darkness (Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins, Frankie Poullain, and Rufus Taylor) strolled onto the darkened stage to the usual sounds of ABBA’s “Arrival” woven into the cheers of the band’s faithful, ready for a good time. They opened with “Rock and Roll Party Cowboy” from Dreams on Toast, released in March. With several months to sit with the new material, the DC crowd already knew the words and sang along.
With Sam and James and Wilson and Al and Marvin all making such singular contributions to the style, there will never be an undisputed King of Soul. But upon reflection, Otis Redding can perhaps be accurately described as the form’s Total Package, for the fabric of his music contains so many substantial fibers; a Southern “country” grit combining with the newfound sophistication of R&B, the powerhouse qualities of a consummate front-man coexisting with a distinctive desire to interact with his backing band, and the ability to knock ‘em stone cold dead on stage thriving alongside an uncommon level of success in the studio setting.
Denver, CO | Fifty Years in, Wax Trax Is Opening Another Location in Denver: Owner Pete Stidman is successfully expanding the Wax Trax brand. Pete Stidman, owner of Wax Trax Records, is upbeat about opening a new branch of the iconic Denver music outlet next month at 3641 West 32nd Street, in the bustling Highlands neighborhood. But he admits that his excitement is accompanied by a touch of anxiety. “Do I sometimes have trouble getting to sleep at night?” he asks. “Honestly, yes. It’s a risk. But everything in business is a risk.” Fortunately for him, Wax Trax has beaten the odds for a half-century; it was founded in 1975. Countless national chains have vanished over its lifespan to date, but Wax Trax 
Berkeley, CA | Amoeba Music to build apartments above store, preserving iconic mural: Amoeba Music, the Southside physical media store, will construct an apartment complex on top of the existing record store.A mural commemorating the establishment of People’s Park, which sits on Amoeba’s wall facing Haste Street, will be preserved during and after the construction, according to Mark Rhoades, the consultant leading the proposal. Rhoades said the new apartment complex will provide about 70 units of mainly student-focused housing in the Southside neighborhood. After construction, the Amoeba music store will reopen with the eight-story addition, according to a rendering from the project’s architecture firm. “I think very broadly in Berkeley, 
I’m unsure if there’s ever been any real consensus over which of The Turtles’ string of original, non-comp albums is their greatest. Indeed, the group doesn’t really get discussed all that often in LP terms, at least in my experience. Instead, they seem to remain in the cultural discourse mainly as an exponent of the mid-‘60s folk-rock boom, one that was able to break free of the substantial Dylan-isms of their early work to score a handful of pop hits that successfully straddled the fence betwixt the youth market and the era’s more “adult” record-buying audience.
Christchurch, NZ | Vinyl revival: Why Christchurch record stores still thrive despite digital streaming services. A Christchurch suburb is becoming a hub for vinyl, as young people flock to record stores. Two new record stores have opened in Sydenham this year, joining longstanding Colombo St store Penny Lane. Store owners say they’re noticing a younger audience for vinyl and physical media. Paul Allen opened The Flipside on Wordsworth Street in late February, selling records, CDs, collectibles, art, and retro vintage household items. He said the idea had been in the making for more than two decades. He thought of his shop as a version of the American Pickers TV show with a rock and roll collectibles “sort of attitude.” Vinyl remained popular because of its collectability and 
Sioux Falls, SD | Crosstown Vinyl moves across Eighth Street: A downtown Sioux Falls record store that takes you right back to the 1970s has moved across the street into a new location. Crosstown Vinyl now is open at 401 E. Eighth St., Suite 105, in the 8th & Railroad Center. It’s the space where Polar Bites’ downtown location closed earlier this year. Owner Steve Zastrow said the move was more financially efficient for the business, coupled with a more ideal layout than what he had across the street. “It was just too much space,” Zastrow said. This is Crosstown Vinyl’s third location since it opened in August 2016 at 11th Street and Walts Avenue, where the record shop spent its first three years before moving to the east side of downtown in The Crane Centre at 326 E. Eighth St. “
Despite the ominous pall cast by the advent of punk—that surly horde of three-chord barbarians who threatened to storm the gates and sack classic rock, just as the Visigoths did Rome—1976 may well be greatest year of rock ever. Fortunately punk soon went the way of the dodo, with just about everyone involved trashing their “Please Kill Me” t-shirts to join Haircut 100, where they wore their socks over their pants legs like complete prats.
