In a new episode of his YouTube series, the Darkness’ Justin Hawkins shared his thoughts on Rick Astley’s Glastonbury performance of the Smiths’ ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ on June 24.
The rocker expressed his admiration for Astley’s show and his interaction with the crowd:
“Check out that response. I mean, the crowd is doing it all for him, and he’s still in there. He could easily just hold the microphone out and just let them take it, but he’s not. He’s just leading them. This is a proper performance by a real frontman. Decades of experience, and he knows what he is having fun with it, and people love him. I’m one of the people that love him.”
In the later parts of the video, Hawkins reflected on how impressive the performance was for him:
“That’s just f*cking staggering. It’s so good that I mean if anything from Glastonbury’s footage that I’ve seen comes anywhere near that, it just doesn’t. Let’s face it. That’s a hell of a moment.”
The vocalist also praised the band, the Blossoms, who took the stage with Astley, as he said:
“So well played, and it’s not easy to do this. The Smith sounds simple, Indian, fey, and light, but it’s difficult to do it right, and they’ve done it just exactly the way you want to hear. It’s fantastic.”
The ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ singer had performed the Smiths covers with the Blossoms again in several shows in 2021. During his Glastonbury setlist, he also sang a rendition of AC/DC’s ‘Highway To Hell’ while playing the drums, Harry Styles’ chart-topping track, ‘As It Was,’ and the classics from his catalog.
Below, you can watch the singer’s show and Hawkins’ reaction.