THE Lightness are a tribute band to The Darkness and even dress like the lads.

The band, who hail from Kidderminster, Bewdley and Bridgnorth, are beginning to tour the country, and have been playing such places as Edinburgh, Swansea and Liverpool.

Now, fans of The Darkness will see this much talked-about tribute band when they play Worcester's Drummonds.

The band, which consists of Steve, on rhythm guitar, Paul on vocals, Mike on bass and Andy on drums, only played their first gig in Bewdley in January this year.

''We'd heard of The Darkness before they released much material, and were messing around, playing some of their tunes,'' says Andy.

''They then started to get popular and our gigs snowballed.''

The lads all met while students at Kidderminster College, and the band formed towards the end of last year.

Paul, Andy and Mike were on the same Btec pop music course, and Steve was on an engineering course at the same college.

''Paul, who plays frontman Justin, wears the cat suits,'' says Andy. ''We got them made in Worcester.

''Paul's also got long hair, but his hair is dreadlocked.

''Steve wears a wig and the rest of us wear the costumes.''

Andy says the band go down a storm live.

''People love us live, especially when we play I Believe in a Thing Called Love,'' says Andy.

The Lightness have never met The Darkness but they saw the band play live at Wolverhampton.

''They were excellent,'' enthuses Andy.

''We get a lot of their live stuff taped off television.

''We try to copy their live stuff.

''The things that Justin says on stage, Paul tries to copy.

''Paul is very similar to Justin - he does the voice perfectly.

''We've not met The Darkness but we'd love to.''

The Lightness are so much in demand that they have around 27 gigs booked up until September this year, all round the country.

The band are also planning to record some original material during the summer months.

''That will be under a different name and we won't be in the cat suits!'' says Andy.

Catch the Lightness at Drummonds, Worcester on Sunday, May 30.

For more information on the band, access their website on www.thelightnessrock.co.uk