The Damned UK Tour Dates

[Frank Castle]

I thought Fridays gig was the best Damned gig I had seen for many a moon.They revamped the set slighty starting with "Nasty" a great first song.It was great hearing material from "Grave Disorder" again,and "Perfect Sunday" is an instant classic.But hearing "Shadow of Love" and especially "Limit Club" was a stroke of genius.Thats what I love about The Damned they pull some classic obscure numbers out of the hat,I just wish The Stranglers would do this more often!

I was delighted they revisited "Strawberries" with the addition of "Gun Fury" and "Bad time for Bonzo" but as always I had to wait to the encore for my all time favourite Damned tune......."Thanks for the Night".....fucking dogs bollocks!!!! I think the last time I heard this was back in 1985 at The Barrowlands.

It has to be said DV and The Captain where in fine fettle,Dave has gone back to his white stripe in the hair look.I don't think the guy has aged a day.And The Captain was his usual madcap self....but what a guitarist!!!

I think there is plenty more mileage with The Damned,word of mention has to go to Pinch a brilliant drummer,and a worthy replacement for Rat.

[John]

The Damned were indeed on top form, they really are a tight band these days and have been for a few years now.
The set list was really good, really glad "thrill kill" was back on the set list, my personal fave from Grave Disorder. Always said the Cap't was a great guitarist and Dave a great frontman. If anyone has any doubts about going to see them, do not worry you would have a great night. Hope they keep on going for a few years yet.

[Peachy]

Hi,

I've put a couple of videos up on youtube from Edinburgh, quality is a bit variable I'm afraid!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVn-NdvqYeo&fmt=22

[newyorkjohnny]

Just home from the Aberdeen gig which kept up the high standard of the tour so far. Pretty much the same excellent set as Leamington although they offered us the choice of Nasty, Shadow Of Love or Jet Boy Jet Girl which Nasty won. They also had a go at a Sky Saxon song I didn't catch the name of during the encores. The band seemed happy and relaxed throughout and were on blistering form. As someone else said above, it's the best I've seen them in a few years.

[newyorkjohnny]

Full review plus a few pics now up on my blog site

[Roy Batty]

The damned are doing the duchess in york on 10th august.. 16squid a ticket!

[Freddie Laker]

Another great Damned gig at Cambridge last night.
For some reason they never seem to be able to fill The Junction, which was probably only about 60% full last night. Strange really, given that SLF and Buzzcocks cram the place close to capacity every time.
Didn't see anything of Texas Terri Bomb, but caught most of Eddie Tenpole's set which went down a storm. Nothing familiar to me, apart from Who Killed Bambi and Swords of a Thousand Men, but the biggest giggle was the song about people telling him he can't be a punk because he doesn't have a mohican, or a leather jacket, and his songs are too melodic. The title of this ditty - "Fcuk Off You Cnut".
The Damned were on superb form - set list the same as Leamington, with the bonus of Anti Pope added spontaneously after Captain had a little rant about the Catholic Church. There was also a song during the encores which nobody else knew - assume it was the cover mentioned earlier by Newyorkjohnny.
As always at a Damned gig, there were a couple of minor technical troubles - no problems with sound, but some issues with lighting meant Monty needed some roadie/torch assistance to see what he was doing at the start of Eloise (this for me is The Damned's Golden Brown - a massive hit which they are expected to play, but most of us would rather they left alone for a while).
Where to start with the highlights ? Like most of the other reviewers I'd probably go for the songs I haven't heard them play for a while - Limit Club, Bad Time For Bonzo and the utterly brilliant Thanks For The Night but to be honest I never tire of hearing New Rose, Neat Neat Neat or Smash It Up either. In short, an excellent mix of top tunes.
Captain's guitar skills remain as sharp as ever, and DV's waistline hasn't aged a day in 30 years.
Plenty of chuckles and a bunch of great songs played brilliantly - what more could you wish for on a Wednesday night in East Anglia ?

[anthonyallen]

I went to see The Damned at Newcastle Academy last night. During the day i was in two minds whether i would go to this but i tell you, i'm very pleased i did. I'd only seen The Damned once and that was years ago in 1983 when i was 14 and somehow got into a gig at the Bear Pit in Newcastle when it was 18 and over show. I remember it well because that gig started at 10.30pm and we were getting picked up at 11pm. So, i only ever saw 30 mins but remember it was around christmas time as they started with There ain't no sanity clause which i think was the single at the time. We also bumped into Rat Scabies at the entrance who was shouting "Thanks for your lovely money." Great times, one of my first gigs.

Anyway, I thought last night was great, the band were in good spirits and there was lots of antics going on with it being the last night of the tour. They played songs i knew such as Blackout, Just can't be happy today, Eloise etc, and others i'd never heard, Neverland and Perfect Sunday i think. Love song and New Rose were raced through at breakneck speed. They played Bad Time for Bonzo and Gun Fury from Strawberries. The encores were blistering and included Stretcher Case, Fan Club, Melody Lee, I can't satisfy you (I think), Happy Talk, Thanks for the Night, and finishing with Smash it up (1+2). The singer from the first support act joined them on stage for Smash it up and the gig ended with her and the Captain mooning at the crowd. The last words were left to Sensible. " It's better than Coldplay." Too bloody right mate.

[Freddie Laker]

Thanks for the review, Anthony.
I think I was at that Bear Pit gig you mentioned.
Was it the one when they had all sorts of electrical problems which delayed the start by a couple of hours, and Rat had to come out and calm the audience down as they were getting a bit "impatient"?
They ended up playing with just a couple of static spotlights directed at the band, and a mass stage invasion.
We spotted Rat and Captain having a couple of pints in the Dog and Parrot beforehand, though I don't remember seeing Rat at the entrance.

[anthonyallen]

Thanks for the review, Anthony.
I think I was at that Bear Pit gig you mentioned.
Was it the one when they had all sorts of electrical problems which delayed the start by a couple of hours, and Rat had to come out and calm the audience down as they were getting a bit "impatient"?
They ended up playing with just a couple of static spotlights directed at the band, and a mass stage invasion.
We spotted Rat and Captain having a couple of pints in the Dog and Parrot beforehand, though I don't remember seeing Rat at the entrance.

No, I don't remember the electrical problems at that gig, just remember it being chaotic at the front and me having to go to the back for a rest after a couple of songs.

[Freddie Laker]

Here's Captain at The Junction last week.
Poor quality image, I'm afraid, taken on my phone.