Fresh from having been to see The Specials playing at Alexander Palace a couple of weeks ago, I barely caught my breath before it was time for another trip down memory lane with a gig at The Roundhouse to see The Damned. From the rude boys of ska to the bad boys of punk/goth in almost seemless fashion - except that punks have not appeared to have aged quite as well (and I make this comparison with many MANY caveats) as the fattie bum bums who now make up the legions of ska fans that attended The Specials gig.
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| Vanian and Sensible with the godfather of punk - Joey Ramone |
A couple of things struck me about the aged Punk/goth crowd too that I had not ever noticed before (t's not my first punk gig but it was the weirdest thing). It appears Punk of this gothic ilk is apparently a man's domain. How do I know this? Well, I saw something I've never in my whole life seen before - a queue for the man's toilets. Have you ever heard of such a thing? It's not myth or legend - it simply is not part of the real world we live in...unless you are at a Damned gig. I have to say, this was THE highlight of the gig for me. A queue for the men's, NO queue for the women's - I said WHAT? And at a punk gig - HA! the irony of it all. Actually, when you think about it, Punk is totally made for women. I can't think of a better scenario at a gig than to not have to queue for the loos. YA HOO!
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| Dave Vanian (lead singer of The Damned) - the original Twilight |
As for The Damned...well, Captain Sensible lived up to his name probably for the first time too. The only thing missing from the stage was an armchair. And Dave Vanian? Well, he still has the big voice but playing an album of obscure B sides was possibly the biggest mis-step of the night. Apart from
Eloise - which is less Punk than it is New Romantics, I didn't know any of the songs. They didn't even play
Smash it Up... I mean what is the world coming to? Or maybe I just need to listen to more music.
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| Captain Sensible - his royal punkness |
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| Old punks not dead..but about to win medals at the Olympics |
Hey listen - that's not bad for 35 years in the business - that's a lot of hairdye.
3 comments:
The current Damned tour focuses on two classic albums, Damned Damned Damned and The Black Album - neither of which included Smash It Up.
Ah well that explains a lot. Though sometimes it nice to be thrown a bone at the encore! Thanks for the comment.
...and the current album, which is one of their best. Wait, you're familiar with only one of their many albums and you're complaining you didn't recognize any songs?
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