Strange as it may seem, there was actually a time before The Damned. Let’s start with the History of the World: The Big Bang, Dinosaurs, Cavemen, Penny Farthings, Mini Skirts… The Damned. That pretty much sums it up. Tonight, partly, was about celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the classic and evergreen Damned Damned Damned album, but more on that later…
Firstly there was a whole 40 years worth of back catalogue to administer. The band promptly march onstage at 9pm, not looking vastly different from when I first saw them as an embryo back in 1979. Dave Vanian, the one constant in those 40 years, still sprightly and nimble, Captain Sensible as witty and sharp as ever, especially in reaching over with his stage mic on the stand and bonking people on the head with it, proclaiming that we could probably make a tune out of the array of small thudding noises which ensued. Of course, you can’t miss keyboard player Monty with his black and white baggy shirt and mop of bushy hair giving him the look of an ’80s Scooby Doo villain.
The night begins with ‘Sanctum Sanctorum‘ from their mid-eighties gothic period, and so follows a storming set, with most of the well known songs and a few surprises along the way, including Sensible taking the vocals for a run through ‘Life Goes On‘ (you know, the one Nirvana pilfered the tune from). ‘History of the World Part One‘ has always been a hidden gem and gets dusted off here. I found myself smiling deliriously in the audience because this band still have got it, the A factor. It sent me back to innocent times and the great, great music that soundtracked many lives, including my own.
With the charismatic Vanian swooping around the stage like the well-dressed vampire he is, and the Captain’s underrated lead guitar playing again to the fore, ‘Smash it Up‘ finishes the first part of the set, and most of the ageing punks in the crowd, less hair and casting less of a slight shadow, may well be reaching for the Ralgex afterwards.
1976: Let’s put some perspective on that distance in time. The year of the heatwave (to younger readers: a heat-wave involves more than 2 days of sunshine). The year a scruffy white-haired, Jimmy Carter had just been elected US President; the year Southampton won the FA Cup and bubble perms were all the rage; the Bay City Rollers had only just vacated their tartan throne and you could choose between a whopping three TV channels as long as it wasn’t in the afternoon or after midnight…
The second half of the set is the entire first album played in one fell swoop over 25 glorious minutes. With the exception of ‘Stab Your Back‘ for some reason. I actually could touch the euphoria in the air I’m sure, especially to the carved in stone classic ‘New Rose‘, given the same energetic thrashing it received 40 years ago, the old punks risking hernias and hip replacements to pogo like it was ‘76.
“Is it better than Never Mind the Bollocks”? asked the Captain. Probably. “Is it better than Phil Collins”? he followed up with. Definitely. A genuine treasure of the history of rock right there on stage. Not only did they bring the house down, they demolished the shed and the outside bog with it.
Photo credit: Paul Reno.
