The Damned-
Dingwalls, London, August 7
Blackpool, August 10
I was privileged and fanatical enough to somehow come up with the money and fly toEngland last August for a wonderful pilgrimage to see the glorious Damned. My friendRob thankfully heard about the last minute show at Dingwalls, a warm up gig for the‘Holidays in the Sun’ punk fest, and got me a ticket. The club was packed and sweaty as Imade my way up front. They went on soon after, and it was my first glimpse of the 'new'line-up, now at least a year old. Dave Vanian certainly hasn’t aged at all in the last 20years, and wore a Frankenstein-green shirt and black vinyl pants. His newcoffin-mate/girlfriend and Damned bassist, Patricia Morrison, wore similar matchingattire, and one could tell by their exchanging glances that they were extremely pleased tobe on-stage together. Captain Sensible burst upon the stage in his usual manner, wearing goggles and a hand painted T-shirt, arriving as the crowd chanted the usual "Sensible’s aWanker!" theme song. They exploded into the extensive Damned catalog we all werethere to hear. It was mostly a hits-up-until-1983 playlist, and the album Strawberries wasplayed as though it was a brand new album, songs like "Ignite" never sounded so good. Patricia Morrison definitely was impressive, playing "Neat Neat Neat" aloneconfirmed her expertise. New drummer Garrie Dreadful somehow managed to fill Rat'sposition rather well. He played brilliantly and added a similar personality to their on-stage antics. Keyboardist Monty the Moron was also a wonderful addition to the band and flamboyantly played some of the best solos on the organ, and added somecomic relief when Captain Sensible wasn't doing so, of course. The audience wascompletely deranged for the 60 plus minutes they were on, it was hard to maintain a closeposition with people flying across the pit. Overall the energy of the band was the greatestI'd experienced in years, and I haven’t enjoyed myself as much in along time. Soon after Ifound myself enroute to Blackpool, still bruised. The three day punk festival held at theindoor Victorian ballroom "Wintergardens" turned out to be an idyllic showcase of everyband I'd ever wanted to see. A list so endless, even I can't remember, but some of the bestwere Chron Gen, Zounds, Theatre of Hate, Buzzcocks, X-ray Spex (without Poly- that’sanother story), Slaughter and the Dogs, Jayne County, Sham 69, TV Smith, lots more.Many bands cancelled, many more were added, and it was a blast from the past. TheDamned were the main attraction on Saturday night, and I believe every punk in England was there. A rainbow of hair colors and leather jacket designs, and a rain of beer (onsome bands like Die Toten Hosen- not too liked). The Captain was soon naked as usual,and they ripped through their repertoire like never before, including "Disco Man",“Curtain Call" and more. The entire crowd singing along. Needless to say, anotherincredible show. Despite lack of new material, the Damned still blow away just aboutevery band I've seen over the years, including their 'peers' the Pistols, who I saw 2 weekslater back in California (noticed Mr. Scabies in the crowd at that one). The Damned seemto enjoy themselves now more than ever, and with some luck their future could be betterthan ever. Let’s hope they record an album and keep it up.
Dingwalls - August 7th, 1996
This summer I took a trip to London, and brought back this li'l story for Noise Noise Noise: Before I even left for London, I knew that the Damned would be playing the day I was scheduled to leave. That would mean I could either reschedule my departure date and see them at a festival with a bucketfull of other punk bands (X Ray Spex, Chaos UK, UK Subs, and many others), or just go home on my regular flight. It turned out that i'd have to stay another 2 weeks. I'd just have to go home Damned-less. But, on one of my last days there, I picked a magazine to see who was playing, and the Damned had booked a show at Dingwalls (a tiny little club) for the day before I was going back home! Woo Hoo! I would be damned! At the concert... I met two kids from Germany that came all the way to London to buy punk rock clothes because it's only half as expensive as in Germany. A trip taken purely for fashion! Now that's punk rock! (sarcasm). After the two opening bands (one rockabilly and one that was shite), the exictment started to build. Some drunken guy was chanting "We Want The Damned", and "Sensible's A Wanker" (la la la). The keyboard player came out first wearing a tux, and played an interlude. The crowd threw beer cups at him. They wanted punk rock, and they wanted it now. The drummer (Garrie Dreadful of Punk Floyd, the Capn's band) cam out wearing red t-shirt that had hand written on it "Do You Know Who I Am?" Gee, how DIY can you get? Then Patricia (Morrison, of the Sisters) and Dave Vanian came out in coordinated outfits. Fluorescent green tops and either leather or vinyl bottoms, followed by Captain Sensible who was dressed in an ugly pink shirt, with a cartoon character guzzling beer, some plaid pants, a kooky little hat, and some goggles that he later claimed were rather expensive. The keyboardist drones on, as they explode into "Love Song", and the once still crowd is still no longer. They ran through thier early classics. I could see that "Curtain Call" was on the set list, and the question in my mind was, " Are they going to do a twenty minute version, much like their studio cut, or would they edit it?" They ended up squeezing in the essential parts of the song into 4 minutes. As the crowd pushed it's way ONTO the stage, old Dave didn't have much room to groove, but he sure didn't seem to care. The crowd seemed to enjoy taunting the Captain, and he was well eqiupped to taunt back. Sensible:"Why didn't you buy my last album? Don't make me sing `Happy Talk'!" People then started requesting "Happy Talk". Sensible:"Too bad the Rat isn't here, don'tyou guys wish the Rat was here?" From there I wondered exactly where Rat Scabies was... Sensible didn't tell us. (but if you want to find out you can look in the latest issue of Alternative Press. The one with Dead Can Dance on the cover) For the encore, Sensible came out in a pretty pink dress. "New Rose", and "Smash It Up" energized the audience (who kept going...and going...) "Thank You, and Good Night" and they left the stage. I thought that would be it as I headed for the door... but they came back out and thanked the crowd for coming out, and played "Love Song" one more time. The band seemed to be in top form and played their set with the energy and tightness you'd expect from the Damned. A night of punk rock from a couple of the grand-daddies. Who walked away unsatisfied...? Not me.