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The Damned

Jun 04, 2024 By Matthew Berlyant Photography by Matthew Berlyant Web Exclusive

More than forty-five (and almost fifty!) years into their illustrious career, The Damned not only sound better than ever, but have now reformed with their 1980-1982 lineup (arguably, their career peak) that includes Paul Gray on bass and incredible drummer Rat Scabies (punk’s Keith Moon!), joining original vocalist Dave Vanian, original bassist turned guitarist/primary songwriter Captain Sensible, and keyboardist Monty Oxymoron in the strongest version of The Damned in the 21st century. As expected, the setlist skewed heavily towards their 1979-1982 creative peak, with no less than seven (!) songs from 1979’s Machine Gun Etiquette and four each from both 1980’s The Black Album and 1982’s Strawberries, all punk/post-punk/goth classics. It wasn’t limited to just that, though, as we also got later highlights like “Eloise” (a Barry Ryan cover they put on 1984’s Phantasmagoria) and “The Shadow of Love” (also from Phantasmagoria) and to illustrate the point that they’re still a modern band and not just a nostalgia act, two fantastic songs from their newest, 2023’s Darkadelic. And as an extra treat, the first encore featured a shortened version of Dave Vanian’s “Curtain Call” (which takes up the entirety of side three of The Black Album) followed by an actually enjoyable drum solo courtesy of Rat and then they went straight into “New Rose.” That wasn’t all, though, as they then came back out again for a well-deserved second encore and launched into “Looking at You,” their brilliant MC5 cover from Machine Gun Etiquette. What a great show and a great way to finish off the night!

Openers The Dictators are a reconstituted version of the legendary ‘70s New York City crew led by bassist/primary songwriter/sommelier/jack of all trades Andy Shernoff and also featuring guitarist Ross “The Boss Friedman”, both part of every incarnation of The Dictators. Additionally, though, Blue Oyster Cult legend Albert Bouchard is on drums, even unexpectedly singing BoC’s “Dominance and Submission” halfway through their set! In the place of lead vocalist “Handsome Dick” Manitoba (who leads his own version of the band) is Sirius XM radio DJ Keith Roth on both vocals and guitar, who did an admirable job during the band’s too short set, highlighted new material as well as selections from their third album Bloodbrothers (always nice to hear “The Minnesota Strip’‘) and their 2001 comeback album DFFD. That said, it was odd that nothing from their first two albums was played, particularly their stone-cold classic debut LP Go Girl Crazy. Perhaps more than eleven songs (fair for an opening set, admittedly) are necessary to properly appreciate this band or perhaps they just want to move forward, which is admirable and fair, but it still felt like something was missing. It should also be noted that they were among the loudest opening acts I’ve seen in recent memory, so if you go see them, bring your earplugs!