Post by South-Punk Admin on Nov 14, 2011 13:03:59 GMT
The Damned’s gig at The Roundhouse (Part of their 35th Anniversary Tour - 1976 – 2011) on Saturday, November 12th, 2011, was a very special occasion not to be missed, as not only were they going to play their seminal first album - 'Damned Damned Damned' - in its entirety, but they were also going to play the entire ‘Black Album’ too,
The Roundhouse started to fill early, with a great multi generational crowd, creating a special atmosphere from the beginning. Viv Albertine inaugurated the night’s proceedings with a wonderful solo set. Her songs have a dystopian quality of childhood reminiscence combined with later era Syd Barrett-esque musings and made for compelling listening, and she went down well, inter twining her own memories incorporating Sid Vicious et al, through to going to The Roundhouse itself when she was 13. A promising start to the evening indeed.
The Damned came on at 9pm, with Captain resplendent in neon furry suit (with tradional beret and 'primark' glasses as he put it) and Dave Vanian in Leather Jacket and PVC strides - they literally tore into their first album, and opener 'Neat Neat Neat' set the pace. The adrenaline fuelled rush of their first album still sounds phenomenal all these years later, and tracks such as 'Fan Club', ‘Born To Kill’, ‘Feel The Pain’, 'New Rose' and '1970' (Dedicated to Iggy) really set the standard for the night. The whole band were really tight and in no time at all the first album was played, and the stage was re-set for the Black Album.
Following a short break, the band re-emerged, sartorially adjusted, and opened with a storming 'Wait For the Blackout' and they were clearly enjoying themselves, perhaps more so than in a long time. Captain's playing just gets better all the time, and Dave Vanian's voice just resonated throughout the Roundhouse and beyond. It’s easy to forget sometimes how good a vocalist he really is. Personal favourite 'Drinking About My Baby' sounded better than ever, as did the sublime 'History of The World (Part One)' and 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', ‘13th Floor Vendetta’ and 'Hit or Miss' etc. The highlight of the evening though had to be the full epic version of 'Curtain Call’, which was truly staggering in scale and scope, and transcends any superlatives one could use to describe it. It was simply magnificent and again sounds better than ever, it exists outside time and should reverberate for eternity. A truly amazing song.
All too soon the set ended but the crowd called out for more and the band returned to blitz 'Disco Man', 'Love Song', 'Eloise' and 'Anti-Pope'. Incredible stuff. The whole evening was fantastic, and their 35th anniversary truly was a special celebration.
For Tour Flyer, please visit:
www.southendpunk.com/html/damned35.html
The Roundhouse started to fill early, with a great multi generational crowd, creating a special atmosphere from the beginning. Viv Albertine inaugurated the night’s proceedings with a wonderful solo set. Her songs have a dystopian quality of childhood reminiscence combined with later era Syd Barrett-esque musings and made for compelling listening, and she went down well, inter twining her own memories incorporating Sid Vicious et al, through to going to The Roundhouse itself when she was 13. A promising start to the evening indeed.
The Damned came on at 9pm, with Captain resplendent in neon furry suit (with tradional beret and 'primark' glasses as he put it) and Dave Vanian in Leather Jacket and PVC strides - they literally tore into their first album, and opener 'Neat Neat Neat' set the pace. The adrenaline fuelled rush of their first album still sounds phenomenal all these years later, and tracks such as 'Fan Club', ‘Born To Kill’, ‘Feel The Pain’, 'New Rose' and '1970' (Dedicated to Iggy) really set the standard for the night. The whole band were really tight and in no time at all the first album was played, and the stage was re-set for the Black Album.
Following a short break, the band re-emerged, sartorially adjusted, and opened with a storming 'Wait For the Blackout' and they were clearly enjoying themselves, perhaps more so than in a long time. Captain's playing just gets better all the time, and Dave Vanian's voice just resonated throughout the Roundhouse and beyond. It’s easy to forget sometimes how good a vocalist he really is. Personal favourite 'Drinking About My Baby' sounded better than ever, as did the sublime 'History of The World (Part One)' and 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', ‘13th Floor Vendetta’ and 'Hit or Miss' etc. The highlight of the evening though had to be the full epic version of 'Curtain Call’, which was truly staggering in scale and scope, and transcends any superlatives one could use to describe it. It was simply magnificent and again sounds better than ever, it exists outside time and should reverberate for eternity. A truly amazing song.
All too soon the set ended but the crowd called out for more and the band returned to blitz 'Disco Man', 'Love Song', 'Eloise' and 'Anti-Pope'. Incredible stuff. The whole evening was fantastic, and their 35th anniversary truly was a special celebration.
For Tour Flyer, please visit:
www.southendpunk.com/html/damned35.html