The Damned
Oct. 31, 2011
House of Blues – Anaheim
From their sound to their aesthetic, The Damned has had an all-encompassing influence in their 35-year tenure. Before “punk” came with a ten volume rule book, The Damned were pioneering the genre and forming their own unique niche tinged with Gothicism and psychedelia that set them apart from their peers, laying the groundwork for everyone from The Misfits to AFI.
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To celebrate their 35th anniversary, the band has been playing two of
their landmark albums in their entirety: Damned Damned Damned and The
Black Album, but this isn't some rehash type of “reunion” tour for The
Damned. While many bands of their generation have been content to rest
on achievements that are now decades old, The Damned have been releasing
relevant material since the late '70s and the choice of these albums
shows two sides of the band. Damned Damned Damned is original, early UK
punk at its tongue-in-cheek, snarling finest while The
Black Album displays their transition into the musical equivalent of Tim Burton on
mushrooms.
Before kicking off the set, Captain Sensible introduced the album
they were about to play by saying that if it wasn't for Damned Damned
Damned, Johnny Rotten would have playing Rod Stewart covers. (Several
jabs were taken at Rotten and Vicious over the course of the show… a
little bit of a rivalry maybe?) They kicked off with “Neat Neat Neat”
and while tonight was Halloween for the crowd on the floor, every night
is a dark carnival for The Damned on stage. Every member of the band is a
larger than life character. Sensible was rocking his trademark beret
and zebra striped pants, front man Dave Vanian's gentlemen vampire with a
hint of Freddie Mercury puts all of Johnny Depp's goth-fopping to
shame, bassist Stu West looked like he could be in Slipknot with his
ripped up flesh mask and Monty Oxy Moron wigged out every so often
behind the keys.
They ended the first set with the last track on Damned Damned Damned,
the perfect high energy sing along “I Feel Alright”. After a break they
took the stage again, this time Sensible was wearing a clown outfit
that had some French maid trim… it was classy. They launched into The
Black Album and it was a completely different experience from the first
set. The second half of the show showed off just how versatile they are
as a band. The set ended with Sensible and Monty on the synthesizers
providing the eerie soundtrack to a straight up psychedelic light show.
And this is what is so great about The Damned. While other bands of
their time were quick to reject and ridicule anything outside of their
narrowly inclusive set of standards, The Damned weren't afraid to
embrace aspects of their influences no matter how uncool it may have
been to cover a Jefferson Airplane song or work a member of Pink Floyd,
and that's punker then any amount of safety pins you can jam into your
face.
The Crowd: Lots of Halloween costumes. Several Jack Sparrows, a
couple of Alexs from Clockwork Orange and plenty of random zombies. Kid Dee, drummer for The Adicts, was also in the audience.
Overheard: “I can die now! I can die now!” – a man dancing in front
of the bar on the second floor during “History of the World”.
Setlist:
1. “Neat Neat Neat”
2. “Fan Club”
3. “I Fall”
4. “Born to Kill”
5. “Stab Yor Back”
6. “Feel the Pain”
7. “New Rose”
8. “Fish”
9. “See Her Tonite”
10. “1 of the 2”
11. “So Messed Up”
12. “I Feel Alright”
(Break)
13. “Wait For The Blackout”
14. “Lively Arts”
15. “Silly Kids Games”
16. “Drinking About My Baby”
17. “Twisted Nerve”
18. “Hit or Miss”
19. “Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde”
20. “Sick of This and That”
21. “History Of The World”
22. “13th Floor Vendetta”
23. “Therapy”
24. “Curtain Call”
(Encore)
25. “Love Song”
“Eloise”
“Anti-Pope”
