They have certainly come a long way since opening for another punk band back in 1976, further yet from that one show at Eric’s in Liverpool back in 1977. Cannot remember there being any intro by Gustav Holt, but this just adds to The Damned’s drama and suspense without being pretentious. What awaits us is an honest and fun gig,
Enter the most underrated guitarist and founder of The Damend Captain Sensible, the never aging Dave Vanian on vocals, and the rest of The Damned, including the epic Monty Oxymoron on keyboards.
Vanian’s looks aren’t the only thing which remain unchanged, his vocals are sonorous to put it swooningly mildly.
Whether it is songs taken from their “Damned Damned Damned” album or their latest release “Evil Spirits”, the Batschkapp audience do themselves and their entertainers proud. They chant along to old favourites like “Street of Dreams” and cannot but regress to “Love Song” and “I Just Cannot be Happy Today”.
Admittingly The Damned’s new material from their album “Evil Spirits” takes their music back to their glam roots and sounds decent recorded, but songs like “Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow” sound absolutely epic live, in fact the new material underlines Captain Sensible’s incredible talent as a musician.
No one was expecting Oxymoron’s dance moves, but they added to the authenticity of a band who love what they do and don’t give a damn (sorry, I am not even old enough for puns like that.)
The only disappointment was their odd version of “Eloise”. The melodramatic goth era is obviously not popular with the band anymore, but sadly missed by yours truly. The moshing to the closing song “Smash It Up” did not make up for “Eloise” and I hope and pray they will rectify it for the gig in Amsterdam next week. I will let you know.
Words: Nicole Smith
Photos: Lewis Lenk for ROCKCULTURE®
