First
up was Wreckless Eric. First time live for me and the lyrics were
sheer genius. With the banter and humour in the songs I thought he
was the perfect foil for The Damned to follow later. Captain popped
out and played drums for him on the last number which was great but
whilst Eric looked really pleased with his rhythm section he's obviously
been starved of a sticks man for a while or he was high, one of the
two.
The
Damned arrived jauntily onto the stage. DV looked like my dentist
in shades (but sung & moved better) and Captain's been compared
to Jude Law in the tabloids apparently. (?!?!? -Fb)
They
kicked the set off with Nasty which rocked and I can honestly
say that the set was superb from start to finish from that point on.
I can't remember the set order but then neither could Captain who
had to keep checking it. The new songs Little Miss Disaster
& Perfect Sunday were mixed in and are definite growers.
To see Captain and DV enjoying the harmonies in Alone Again or
leaning out towards the crowd a particular highlight, as I've never
seen this played live before. The way they mixed up the energetic
songs with the subtler stuff was carefully thought out or 
random
genius.
Thanks
to the band for a great gig and for continuing after beer was lobbed
at them which managed to short all the lights. The Damned are an endangered
species, a class act so make sure you get to see them on this tour
and the next and buy the goodies. Sorry for the lack of photos I was
too busy watching but there's one of Jude Law so you can judge for
yourself.
Mike Ross
Due
to the no show of the Weirdos, first up was Wreckless Eric. He did a
sterling performance but didn't really liven up the atmosphere in preparation
for the main event. Sensible took to the drums for the final (and predictable)
set closer Whole Wide World, and between them they made a right
pig's ear of it, having to restart after a decidedly dodgy first attempt,
gawd bless 'em.
Following
Wreckless Eric, there was an interminable pause before the Damned
hit the stage, but as they say good things come to those who wait.
What was Vanian wearing when he arrived on stage? Was it chef's whites,
or was he still in uniform following a shift at the local asylum?
I was not too sure.
Straight away the band burst into a rollicking version of Nasty
closely followed by Disco Man, and from then on it was a rollercoaster
ride of stuff old and new. Smash it Up appeared relatively
early on in the proceedings and Neat Neat Neat was severely
truncated - the shortest version I've heard in about 20 years.
Both Vanian and Sensible were on fine form with the usual witty banter,
including an embarrassing tale of catching one of the road crew "massaging"
himself on the tour bus the previous evening, while Sensible moaned
about both his cold and his ailing eyesight as the set list was pinned
up a bit nearer so he could actually read it, and he was constantly
swigging from his bottle of flu remedy (yeah right!). Pinch was more
subdued than normal, in fact I don't think he uttered a word all night,
Stu prowled his side of the stage, and Monty was, um, just Monty!
A brace of new numbers was aired - the new single Little Miss Disaster
and Perfect Sunday - first time on hearing them and must admit
I was less than impressed, but some of the band's best songs are growers
so that's no bad thing. Things were motoring along quite nicely until
what started as an excellent Melody Lee was curtailed by an
imbecile throwing a couple of pints of beer over Dave, which although
he handled in relatively good humour, despite being obviously pissed
off, caused a halt to proceedings while the band regrouped . They
then tried to complete the song, but second time around - ahem - the
lights and PA cut out for a good 5 minutes - perhaps fuses were blown
due to their immersion in beer, but at this point the guys decided
to abandon the song and for a moment I started to think that maybe
this was in fact gonna be the end of the evening. The Captain then
threatened a bit of Happy Talk and they were off, albeit with
reduced PA capacity and a severe lack of stage lights for the rest
of the set which was nicely finished with the quartet of History
of the World, Love Song, a wicked version of Ignite
and finally New Rose during which Monty leapt around the stage
like a demented Jeremy Clarkson. Ahh, I see that's why Dave was wearing
the white coat!
John Higgins
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Photos:
(Above) John Higgins
(Jude Law) Mike Ross
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