Review: The Damned – Cambridge Corn Exchange

If you were to ask the average fan of The Damned to name their favourite record, it will more than likely be a toss-up between two; 1980’s The Black Album and 1982’s Strawberries. Both albums helped the London punk legends seek further success within the punk rock community, thanks to the introduction of musical stylings such as psychedelia, 60s rock and goth rock – all of these genres would become staples in their sound as the years go on. And if, like me, your favourite album by the band is The Black Album and/or Strawberries, then this December UK tour is the tour for you.

For the first time in 35 years, vocalist Dave Vanian and guitarist Captain Sensible will be (re)joined by bassist Paul Gray, and the legendary Rat Scabies on drums. Oh, and who could forget the mighty Monty Oxymoron on the keyboards? It’s an incredibly exciting and promising lineup, one that fans everywhere have already reacted very highly of. And tonight, they take on the prestigious Corn Exchange in Cambridge – a venue that has seen multiple lineup changes of the band, but they’ve never had the pleasure of seeing this particular lineup. Supported by American garage rock legends The Fleshtones and glam rock icons Doctor and the Medics, tonight promises to be a fantastic affair for all involved. And spoiler: it was definitely a night to remember.

After arguably one of the quickest gear turnarounds that I have ever seen, the stage was set and the lights went low, glowing a dark and hazy purple, as the band took to the stage. By far the biggest applause during the introduction was given to Rat as he took his seat behind the kit – proving fans dearly missed him, as they gave him a very warm welcome back. “Ladies and gentlemen! How do?” asks Dave Vanian before a brief moment of silence ensues, as a technical issue prevents them from properly starting. The issue? Rat forgot his in-ear monitors and, as Captain Sensible explains in a rather tongue-in-cheek way, they “need these very expensive hearing aids these days.” Once it’s all sorted, the infamous line is shouted once more, and the band catapults into opener Love Song, which gets the crowd singing along and moshing too. And without any time for the entire room to breathe, they segue immediately into Machine Gun Etiquette with the same level of ferocity and intensity that they produced on the original record.

And although tonight is mainly a celebration of their early 80s albums, it’s only right that they include some tracks from their most recent album Darkadelic, released just last year, which I reviewed here. The politically-charged tune Beware of the Clown gets a big reaction, and the lead single The Invisible Man sounded just as manic and groovy as it did on record. “That was our new song, you can find it on Spotify or whatever it’s called” Captain Sensible jokes after Beware of the Clown, to the crowd’s amusement. It’s also worth noting that, although he wasn’t present for the recording of Darkadelic, Scabies’ work behind the kit on the 2 songs from the record was very well done and well received – creating a fresh and more raw take on William Granville-Taylor’s work.

The banter between the quintet is infectious too; Captain indulged us all with a story about him going to a local café in the city for lunch (shoutout Tatties) and how it cost him a whooping £9.83. “I don’t usually pay for anything more than £9.82” he tells the crowd, barely able to keep a straight face at the sake of his own quip. When introducing the Strawberries classic Life Goes On, in which he takes on lead vocals, he proclaimed that Nirvana ripped off the main guitar riff with their song Come As You Are (which, to be honest, IS a little bit uncanny when you think about it…) as the crowd eggs him on with jeers and cheers. He also makes a couple of references to the “ghost of Syd Barrett” – firstly as he introduces the prog-infused History of the World (Part 1) and also when they finish their set with a cover of Arnold Layne, the debut single from fellow Cantabridgians Pink Floyd, which was a very nice surprise!

And even though the last few bars of the frenzied Neat Neat Neat were coming to an end and the band started to walk offstage, they were by no means finished just yet – they treated the Cambridge crowd to not one, but TWO encores! They walked back on and played through their 17-minute epic Curtain Call, topping it off with a drum solo courtesy of Mr. Scabies (a true showcase of his technical prowess) and ending with the one that started it all – the thrashy and frenetic New Rose. For their 2nd encore, they tore through their ‘Christmas song that’s not quite a Christmas song’ called There Ain’t No Sanity Clause, before playing their unofficial anthem Smash It Up, complete with both parts. And after their superb cover of Pink Floyd’s Arnold Layne, the crowd left the venue and set out into the cold and bitter night. Undoubtedly, this was one of their strongest performances as a band yet, and one that will definitely stick with me for a while. Despite the 48 years that have come and gone since the band’s formation, the original punks seem to show no signs of slowing down yet.

Review – Joe Richardson

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