The Damned in Toronto

May 29, 2024 at 1:06 am (Uncategorized)

Back in 1978 when I was about 14 years old, I ordered some Damned singles from Stiff records, “Problem Child” and “Don’t Cry Wolf,” singles from the band’s critically maligned second album Music for Pleasure. (Give it a listen, it’s aged well). Why I chose those records is beyond me as the band had already broken up, but may already have been gigging under the name the Doomed. In any event, I thrilled to the following year’s release “Love Song.” (I still have the one with a Captain Sensible picture sleeve). But I never saw the band live. Until yesterday.

The Danforth Music Hall is a good mid-size venue which holds around 1,500 people, but importantly you can reserve seats. I’m at that stage of my concert going life when no mater how good the show is it’s improved by me sitting. Hey, I’m 59, and I was at a punk rock rock on a school night.

Opening act Ichi-Bons came on around 8:00. A three-piece Toronto punk rockabilly band, the quickly noe over the audience with a fast paced set of originals and covers. Opening bands can be a bit of a crap shoot, but I’m glad I caught them. You can find their singles on the usual streaming sources.

The Damned took the stage to the Dr. Who theme at a little after 9:00. The current line-up features three original members, Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, and Rat Scabies, along with 80’s bassist Paul Grey and long-time keyboards player Monty Oxymoron, and while the band has been in existence for almost half a century, they showed no signs of slowing down.

My general rule is to avoid these kind of shows especially if I saw them in my youth. However, never saw them, so I thought why not? It was the right call. The band were musically very tight, but also relaxed in a way that comes with a band playing together for a long time. THe audience consisted of a lot of grey beards who had grown old with punk, and so it felt like a gathering of the community. We knew the songs, we sang along. we were one.

The band performed an energetic set of over 90 minutes drawing from their first five records (most heavily from Machine Gun Etiquette) as well as a couple of tracks from last year’s Darkadelic. I don’t know how good they were in the first flush of punk, but it was still a thrill to hear “New Rose” and “Neat Neat Neat” live. What a treat.

Set

Ignite
Wait for the Blackout
The History of the World (Part 1)
Melody Lee
Generals
Stranger on the Town
Plan 9 Channel 7
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Beware of the Clown
Eloise
Fan Club
The Invisible Man
Noise Noise Noise
Love Song
Machine Gun Etiquette
I Just Can’t Be Happy Today
Neat Neat Neat
Smash It Up

Encore:
Curtain Call
New Rose
Looking at You