With
a full moon rising above Bridgwater on a clear Wednesday night, this
was an ideal scene for the original gothic punk quintet known as The
Damned to be playing.
Tonight
at the Palace, the Kings of punk hit the stage at around 9.30pm, by
which time the atmosphere was electric. Sensible, wearing his trademark
red beret and a spoof coca-cola t-shirt, is ever the clown and after
a few seconds of technical problems, he announced "Good Evening
Doncaster, We’re the Damned" and the band launched straight
into Wait for the Blackout. This resulted in the dance floor
filling with sweaty fans of all ages, and some seriously old looking
punks demonstrating that they can still bust the moves despite their
plastic hips and catheters… and the melee didn’t stop for
the next hour and forty-five minutes.
Dave
Vanian appeared on stage for the start of the first verse. He was
predictably dressed in black, with a pair of stylish purple sunglasses
to add to his cool. He was once a gravedigger, used to drive a hearse
and sleep in a coffin, and you know, perhaps the Dracula image wasn’t
just an act and he really is a vampire because he has hardly aged
at all. For a man who will be "celebrating" his fiftieth
birthday later this year, he has the looks and physique of a man half
that age. Maybe the Grecian 2000 helps! There’s no doubting also,
that he is also a fantastic vocalist with a rich vibrant voice and
a charismatic manner, and can slip effortlessly from a shout to a
croon and back again, like a punk version of Tony Hadley. His sparring
partner Sensible on the other hand continues to age disgracefully,
bleaching his hair and acting like an eternal teenager despite morphing
into old man Steptoe, as he indulges in some stupid banter about Jimmy
Saville’s catch phrase being rubbish and Sweet being the original
boy band, and because of him I’ll never be able to watch the
Dog on the Churchill Insurance advert ever again, oh no no no no no!
Second
song in and it’s a bombastic New Rose, and by this point
the band was firing on all cylinders, sounding as good as ever and
an awesome sound from the PA ensured everything was crystal clear
in the mix.
The
rhythm section of Stu on bass and Pinch on drums was faultless throughout
(repect too for the Rudimentary Peni patch sported by Stu). As tight
as Vanian’s trousers, they both turned in intense performances
and ensured that things didn’t get too chaotic. Mid-set Pinch
shouted out a message of support to promoter Matt and suggests that
everyone should attend the forthcoming punk gigs in Bridgwater and
keep the scene alive. I can only echo that sentiment.
The
usually wacky keyboard player Monty Oxymoron, for whatever reason,
appears to be in a distinctly subdued mood tonight, hiding behind
his fish tank and only occasionally peeping over the top, rather than
running around the stage and throwing himself around like a mad marionette
with its strings cut.
A
couple of newish songs were aired tonight: Perfect Sunday and
Little Miss Disaster, but also an extremely varied selection
of back catalogue material with absolutely no filler. Predictable
numbers included their biggest hit Eloise, an extended Neat
Neat Neat, and Love Song, alongside the risqué Jet
Boy Jet Girl, Plan 9 Channel 7 and History of the World,
as well as some rare gems like 13th Floor Vendetta, Rabid
(Over You), which the Captain informed us was getting only it’s
second live airing ever despite being over 25 years old, and Alone
Again Or (originally by Love) and dedicated to the recently deceased
Arthur Lee (from Love) and Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd).
The
band concluded the set with (a particularly feverish) Smash It
Up, and left the stage to rapturous applause, only to return a
few minutes later to encore with a truncated version of the 17 Minute
epic Curtain Call, before finally launching into an extended
version of my favourite ever Damned live song "I Feel Alright"
(a cover of the Stooges “1970”), which by the time it concluded
had me drenched in sweat and grinning from ear to ear. With this the
house lights are switched on and the DJ blasted out the Captain’s
Number One Hit, Happy Talk, to ensure everyone departed promptly!
Set
List:
Wait for the Blackout
New Rose
History of the World
Perfect Sunday
Democracy
Neat Neat Neat
Alone Again Or
Jekyll and Hyde
Eloise
Little Miss Disaster
13th Floor Vendetta
Plan 9 Channel 7
Generals
Jet Boy Jet Girl
Love Song
Smash It Up
Encore:
Curtain Call
Rabid Over You
I Feel Alright
John
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Thanks
to John for the above photos!
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