The Damned 35th Anniversary Tour, The Middle East Club Boston 20th October 2011

I, like many other Stranglers fans have long carried a torch for The Damned. Both bands were viewed as outsiders of the London punk scene of '76/'77, this despite the Damned consistently racking up all of the punk firsts (first signed, first single release, first to tour America etc.). With influences more aligned to the demon progressive rock (admittedly hidden rather well by the Damned for a few years) than the front line reggae favoured by the Clash and the Pistols, it seemed that neither the Damned or the Stranglers really meant it maaan!!

As a frequent wearer of the tutu, even more frequently naked by the end of a gig and always an agent of the unpredictable at early Damned gigs, the good Captain was certainly one reason why the serious music journos of the day did not or would not take the Damned seriously. However, once the band rose above the Stooges/MC5 inspired thrash of the first album, it became clear that Sensible was a musician of considerable talent.

For many fans, the albums Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album and Strawberries represent the holy trinity in The Damned's body of work. For this reason, it is in some ways disappointing that on this tour they have chosen to couple complete run throughs of Damned Damned Damned (done before) and the Black Album. Maybe Strawberries is in the diary for 2012!!

This weekend sees the band play The Roundhouse in our own Camden Town. It promises to be a great night. 'Sensible's a Wanker!' parhaps, but he's also a great guitarist to boot.

From the American leg, I have uploaded this from Dime in the original lossy format (flac) at the request of the original uploader.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Damned......

FLAC: http://we.tl/YdnD1sI0KQ

Damned, Damned, Damned

1-Pa Music/Intro

2-Neat, Neat, Neat

3-Fan Club

4-I Fall

5-Born To Kill

6-Feel The Pain

7-New Rose

8-Fish

9-See Her Tonight

10-1 Of The 2

11-So Messed Up

12-I Feel Alright (Stooges)

The Black Album

13-Intro Music

14-Wait For The Blackout >

15-Lively Arts >

16-Silly Kids Games

17-Drinking About My Baby

18-Sensible's A Wanker

19-Twisted Nerve

20-Hit Or Miss

21-Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde

22-Sick Of This And That

23-History Of The World (Pt 1)

24-13th Floor Vendetta

25-Therapy

26-Curtain Call

27-Encore Break-

Encores

28-Chatter

29-Lovesong

30-Anti Pope

31-Chatter "Happy Talk Or Smash It Up"

32-Smash It Up (Pts 1 & 2)