Lady Luck has not looked down on the family kindly this year, if indeed at all... that is with one exception. Earlier in the year I booked a couple of tickets to see The Damned. It was just as the first night at the Roundhouse was selling out and a second night was announced. Momentarily I was in a quandary, do I go for the packed sold out first night or go for the second night which may or may not be so rammed. Decision made, I opted for the first night as I knew other mates would be there on the Wednesday. On the night, it was painfully clear that the Captain was suffereing from the lurgy, his voice was shot and he was going through a box of man-sized at a rate of knots! Early evening the following day came an announcement from the band to say that upon the advice of the Dr Jekyll (presumably) the second gig should be pulled. It seems to be the case that the venue and the various ticket vendors are offering refunds so no rescheduled date... hard to manage I guess for the last date of UK tour. My plans to see the band elsewhere, earlier in the year were also sunk by illness on my part so Wednesday was my last chance to see my classic line up of the band. Thank you Lady Luck!
We entered the auditorium as the the intro tape gave way to Paul Gray's first bass salvo as the band launched into 'Love Song'. We manoeuvered over to the left to the side of the stage, it being a little more spacious, but more importantly it offered a good view of the 'new boy' occupying the drum stool. Another taste of 'Machine Gun Etiquette' was delivered in the form of 'Second Time Around' and the band were in full swing. There then followed a brilliant 'Black Album' trio of 'Wait For The Blackout'. 'Lively Arts' and 'History Of The World', three songs that are so much a part of me as a teenage music fan. This was the time when I was really getting into The Damned. I have no idea what the bands rehearsal schedule was, but they were tight tonight and Rat didn't get a beat out of place.
The highlight of the show came early for me and looking at a posted photo of the set list it looked like it was a change that may have been made specifically for London. 'Are The Ruts in tonight, this one's for Malcolm' said Captain by way of introduction of 'Limit Club', the band's ageless tribute to Malcolm Owen. 'Gun Fury (Of Riot Forces)', a great song in itself, could not have been replaced by a better song!
A great version of 'Eloise' took Sensible's strained vocal chords to the limit, but you've gotta love the drama of that song, even Barry Ryan conceeds that The Damned's version is in a class of its own.
It was very clear from the set that this was a celebration of The Damned's golden period of '79 to '82, with 'The Damned as MC5' represented by 'Neat Neat Neat' and 'New Rose' alone. After all, the punk thrash version of the band had been revived once more with Brian in 2022. The Damned tonight were less raucous, less chaotic (in truth they have not been chaotic for the longest time now!), tonight was a case of allowing the music to speak for itself . This was also the closest that I was ever going to get to the Strawberries tour, but I loved it. Seven minutes of 'Curtain Call' too, marvellous.
The only critisism that I would have would be concerning the drum solo.... always hated them... but it was Rat so I let it go :)! Oh, and with the prolonged 'Ignite', they have denied the set of an additional song (I feel the same way about 'Walk On By'!). In my opinion 'Ignite' is far superior when played as it was recorded. But these are trifles in what was a brilliant night.
A speedy recovery for the good Captain and I look forward to doing it all over again (with a few more dates managed by me) next year.
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