Teenager goes with the Darkness to spotlight

A dream come true for teenage Fin who performed with The Darkness.

Fin Price from Cardrona, had the time of his life when Justin Hawkins from The Darkness, invited him to sing one of their hit songs in front of screaming fans at the Vibrations Festival in Falkirk.

The 15-year-old’s banner – ‘I Love You, Justin, Can I sing Barbarian?’, caught the eye of the lead guitarist and vocalist, and that’s when Fin became part of the band.

A guitarist and singer himself, Fin credits Robbie Tatler at Nomad Beat Community Music School, for inspiring his passion for music, and the youngster soon started playing in bands.

He co-formed the band Zenith in spring last year, and they played their first gig at Maroon'd at Gala Rugby Festival last August.

"We do a mix of covers and originals, mainly alternative rock with some classic rock stuff too,” said Fin.

However, the young rocker never expected to grace the stage with The Darkness and couldn’t believe his luck.

"It all started when the Justin Hawkins responded to my comment in a video on his YouTube channel,” he said. “ My account was called "Musician Steve" as I created it when I was younger. I decided since I was seeing The Darkness live, I would put my account name on a banner as well as a message asking to sing Barbarian which is my favourite song of theirs.

But nerves got to Fin and he almost didn’t raise his banner. “Thankfully, Ali Goodyear, (local musician) who was with us, put up a massive banner reading "Musician Steve" with arrows pointing down to where I was standing. Justin read it and told me to enjoy the next seven songs until they were going to play Barbarian.

“I felt so excited up there, it was like I was part of the band. When the guitar kicked in it felt amazing. The whole band was so tight, and they had such a stage presence and were encouraging me to jump around too.

“When the song was over I got up on the drum riser and they all jumped at the same time as me. It was absolutely incredible and I will never forget it.”

From the darkness to the spotlight, Fin said of his performance – “it's without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Zenith are playing at Macarts in Galashiels on the 7 October, and will also be playing with Bob's Boiler Room in Innerliethen on the 1 November. Upcoming gigs will be updated on the band’s Facebook account Zenith Scotland and their Instagram account @zenithpeebles.