The Darkness‘ singer, Justin Hawkins, interrupts this performance in Sydney to request that the audience put their mobiles down, save for Nick Rodriguez, who he selects as the official videographer. He provides space for Nick to promote his Instagram page and directs the audience to visit there for video footage, which is in fact this video. He participated in both of (Foo Fighters‘ late drummer) Taylor Hawkins tribute performances.

Justin has had his own YouTube channel for just over a year now. He offers his own perspective on a variety of music and answers viewers’ questions in one segment a week. He seems like a bang-up chap. This was shot as part of his recent tour of Australia and New Zealand. Here, he performs their biggest hit, I Believe in a Thing Called Love (2003), a homage to Queen and Freddy Mercury.

I share this here because it’s refreshing that he cares enough about his audience to force them to be in the moment and experience the show in first-person rather than through a video lens. I am not all that hung up on the no-phones thing, and I’m not sure he is either, but he wanted to make sure that they engaged directly for at least this one song.

Even if you only view the video still on the blog, you may notice the surfeit of band members. The surplus performers are The Southern River Band, the warm-up band. I’ll just say that it is rare for a headline act to invite this. In many cases, opening acts are treated like second-class citizens. So, kudos to Justin and The Darkness.