With their outrageous stage antics, spandex catsuits and bad hair, The Darkness were immediately singled out as a joke by the British press.

But three years on, while they're still as camp as Christmas, their high-energy sets, catchy material and unapologetic worship of Seventies rock 'n' roll bombast has gradually earned them credibility - not to mention a fanatical following.

Everything you've heard about England's fave glam rock band is true: The exhaustion, the fear, the pressure, the paranoia, the breakdowns and the break-ups.

Now experience the rebirth of The Darkness, largely thanks to the completion of a great second album, One Way Ticket To Hell...And Back, and new recruit Richie Edwards who, along with his bass, has brought a new sense of peace to the ever-fractious band. The Guide spoke to him ahead of the band's Brighton gig.

"It's great," says Richie of his experience as the new boy. "I can't believe it but it has already been nine months. I could have had a child in that time," he laughs.

"I have been getting stomach pains. It's been fantastic, a whirlwind."

The affable Richie toured with The Darkness for two years as guitar tech before he was asked to join the band, replacing moustachioed Frankie Poullain. He admits it was a morally difficult move. But all things considered, it was the right thing to do.

"I dearly loved Frankie," says the Brummie bassman, "he was a friend and a great guy. I did think, 'should I feel bad?' but I knew if it wasn't me it would be someone else. And I'm not replacing him, I'm not trying to emulate him.

"Someone asked me what it's like to fill his shoes but I'm not trying to fill his shoes. I've got my own shoes. His wouldn't fit me anyway."

"It was a mutual thing," he continues. "He wasn't happy and he left the band. It was accepted. I'm sure he's happier and the band are happier."

Richie is keen to set the record straight about the band's frontman. Justin Hawkins is definitely not the out of control, paranoid egomaniac he's made out to be.

"He has been absolutely shafted by the Press," he says. "He's been portrayed unfairly. He's an honest guy who speaks his mind but things he says are taken out of context." Like when he called Chris Martin vain and labelled James Blunt wretched? "It's all blown out of proportion," says Richie.

Aside from having rubbish written about your bandmates, is being rock star all it's cracked up to be?

"It's kind of weird, having been with the band for so long already. Life is exactly the same.

"The weirdest thing was doing the David Letterman Show in New York. It's one of America's highest-rated shows, it's a big deal. I did it, came back to the hotel, turned the telly on and thought, 'f******* hell! I've just done Letterman.'

"Most of the time, you just get on with it and do your thing, then you reflect on it and it's bizarre."

Support comes from Ark and Juliette And The Licks.

Doors open 6.30pm, tickets cost £24.50. Call 0870 900 9100