After
2 days spent gambling myself towards an early grave in search of "my"
number 32 on the roulette tables of Las Vegas (a number which proved
itself to be conspicuous by its total absence), the House of Blues
show proved to be a welcome diversion. No on stages pictures of the
band to accompany this review as there was a complete camera ban -
security was extremely tight with the use of an electronic wand thingy,
a full pat down and production of picture ID required.
Once in, the HoB was a high-ceilinged nice sized venue (slightly bigger
than the UK clubs that play host to The Damned). Not full but a decent
crowd.
First up were The Adored who did a short but entertaining set
of standard US punkish fare. Then came a bit of a novelty in the pneumatic
form of Mimi Le Meaux - a Burlesque dancer no less. She was
all glitter, frills, red fans, red gloves, red boas, red satin and
bodices and seemed hell bent on removing most of them to the accompaniment
of suitable music. Seemed like a nice girl. Mimi then introduced by
way of a glittery sign The Epoxies - female fronted, high energy
stuff - rather like a turbo charged Rezillos and excellent too - one
of the best live bands I've seen. They certainly knocked other Damned
support bands I've seen over the years into a cocked hat.
The curtains closed on the them and the stage was prepared for The
Damned. As the curtains opened, who came back on but old Mimi again,
this time determined to shed what was left of her attire. By the time
she was down to a couple of strategically placed tassells I didn't
know quite where to look. She held up another sign with The Damned
logo in glitter on it and a mock thunderstorm began. The stage was
dressed in faux gravestones, skulls and the odd rotting corpse or
two. Pinch then clambered behind the drum kit (which looked much bigger
than his usual one to me - it certainly had more cymbals). He was
ghoulishly made up and wearing a black top hat - the Whitby Goth Festival
must have given him a taste for such things.
Captain then appeared dressed in a sort of black frock coat and matching
trousers topped off with a frilly white cravat. Dave came
on in a natty black suit and then it was straight into Wait For
The Blackout followed by New Rose, which sparked a bit
of sedate pogoing but nowhere near as boisterous as in the UK. The
HoB - amazingly to my eyes - allow beer cans onto the dance floor
but nothing was thrown stage-wards all night. Not being caught in
a shower of beer made a nice change as did Monty's keyboards not having
a beer shield over them.
Then it was a power romp through History of the World, Perfect
Sunday, Absinthe, Democracy, Neat Neat Neat
(extended version), Alone Again Or, Dr Jekyll, Eloise
(a real crowd pleaser), Little Miss Disaster (say what you
like but it is a good live song), 13th Floor Vendetta, Ignite
(with much audience participation), a superb Plan 9, Generals,
a brilliant Jet Boy Jet Girl (more audience participation)
- Dave doing the customary backing vocals and being very complimentary
about Captain's guitar work (he was visibly impressed by it on Ignite
too) and Love Song. A roof raising Smash It Up closed
the set proper - gawd knows how many times I've heard this song live
but this was one of the best stabs at it yet. Short break then it
was Anti Pope, which Pinch played mostly one handed as he nipped
out for a cigarette just before it started (as Dave said "he's
gone for a fag". Ever helpful Captain said "he means
a cigarette". "No, I meant a fag!" replied
Mr V).
Pros to a man, the band finished at 9:59:59 ready for the 10pm curfew
- bit early for a 24 hour city I thought. Great show and made all
the more enjoyable by the excellent crystal clear sound which meant
I heard Monty's backing vocals and keyboards clearly for the first
time.
Froggy
(Photos: Thanks to Froggy.)