The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins has jokingly called his band a “feeder club” for Iron Maiden‘s road crew as the two groups prepare to share the stage at Knebworth Park this summer.
The massive outdoor concert, officially dubbed EddFest, is scheduled for July 11, 2026, located roughly 30 miles north of London. The weekend event will also feature performances from The Hu, Airbourne, and The Almighty. Fans attending the highly anticipated metal gathering can expect the largest Eddie‘s Dive Bar ever constructed, themed food stalls, and camping activities starting on Friday, July 10.
During a recent interview with Ben Jones on “Virgin Radio UK“, Hawkins discussed his relationship with the heavy metal legends and how their paths frequently cross behind the scenes.
“We’ve got a lot of mutual friends. We don’t do as much touring as Iron Maiden do. I mean, we’re on the road a lot, but we don’t do as much as them. And we always have brilliant guitar techs, and they always nick ’em off us. So we’re like a feeder club for Iron Maiden‘s techs. So we’ve got a lot of mutual friends, and obviously whenever we are in the same room, we all get on great. So it’s gonna be a really great day, I think,” Hawkins explained.
When the radio host joked about the opening band hopefully having enough crew left for their own upcoming winter tour, the singer humorously replied: “That’s what worries me. One afternoon with Iron Maiden, and then we’re just on our own tuning our own guitars. The indignity of it.”
Hawkins also reflected on the historic weight of playing at Knebworth Park. While The Darkness previously performed at the legendary venue 23 years ago while supporting pop star Robbie Williams, he emphasized that this upcoming gig is a massive victory for heavy metal as a genre.
“We’re getting to play at Knebworth. The last time we did that was 2003, and we supported Robbie Williams then. So it’s been 23 years. But I think it’s not about us. The whole story of Knebworth, it’s quite amazing that Iron Maiden get to play that legendary space, having never made music that’s designed to [get on] the charts in any way. They have obviously — I know they’ve had number ones and stuff like that and sold lots and lots of records, but it’s outsiders’ music. It’s proper metal. If you wore an Iron Maiden t-shirt at school, you were wearing it as a sort of badge of honor to say, ‘I’m not a townie. I am not a trendy. I do not belong to the usual cliques that you have in the school hierarchy. I’m a metal person, so leave me alone.’ But the fact that there are so many of them, you can do Knebworth with it after this amount of time is really, really amazing, and that’s what the story is, I think. So we’re just happy to be part of it. We’re really thrilled that they invited us. And then they invited us to the [recent] premiere of their [‘Burning Ambition‘] documentary,” the frontman stated.
When the massive summer show was initially announced last September, the vocalist expressed his excitement with a signature, tongue-in-cheek statement regarding the headlining act’s famous namesake.
“We’re thrilled to announce that The Darkness are to appear LIVE in support of the legendary Iron Maiden at Knebworth! Iron Maiden are among our favorite all-time bands and what’s more, they are named after my second favorite medieval torture device. My favorite would be the Pear Of Anguish. So those in attendance can expect us to force our music into them, whereupon the catchiness of our tuneage will expand until they tell us everything. Yay!!!”
Following the summer festival, The Darkness will launch their largest UK headline tour in two decades. The seven-date arena run will begin on December 8 at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow and conclude on December 16 with the group’s debut headlining performance at The O2 in London.
The Darkness 2026 U.K. Tour Dates
- Dec. 08 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
- Dec. 09 – Leeds, FD Arena
- Dec. 11 – Manchester, AO Arena
- Dec. 12 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
- Dec. 13 – Cardiff, Utilita Arena
- Dec. 15 – Brighton, Brighton Centre
- Dec. 16 – London, The O2
