Fangbase - Reviews

City Hall, Salisbury

Sunday 1st September 2002

Well that was a bit of a wild one!

It got off to a wobbly start when a couple of full pint glasses were lobbed at the band during Street Of Dreams right at the start, this being after one of the stage hands had made a request for no beer throwing before they came on stage. Anyway Captain was not a happy man about this and 2 people were involved were thrown out, though I could see a few more of that group lurking about. You got the distinct impression that this gig could come to an end very quickly.

Well The Damned played like things possessed, really getting it going until some retard (one of the earlier beer group) started gobbing at Captain. Again he had a few sharp words to say about that and the geezer was dealt with by the bouncers. Even though the odd empty glass was the thrown and I think the odd gob, the Damned really started to rock. Dave announced that this was the tour finale and you did get the impression that there was a light-hearted atmosphere on stage and that they had turned a potential nasty into a neat neat neat.

There were some classic moments; when a young lad was bundled overhead to land in a heap on the stage, he looked a bit worried and tried to scramble to his feet but Dave literally grabbed him by the seat of his trousers and dragged him back on stage to dance around – plenty of cheers from the crowd for that one. During Eloise?? Captain was shuffling across trying to stomp on Patricia’s toes but as he did a DV shimmy back to his side of the stage he went arse over tit over a monitor! He looked decidedly sheepish too – ahh these poor old souls that can’t stay on their feet anymore!!! And at the start of (uhm.. I can’t remember) Dave took a run at the drums and did a sort of one handed hand stand on the kit – 10 out of 10 for artistic impression there mate! Finally Smash It Up ended in a free for all when the support band – Diamond Dogs – joined them for some on stage shenanigans. Celebrity spotting – Chris Packham, TV naturalist was there, a nod back to his punk roots I hope, though some of the audience I'm sure could have appeared on one of his shows!

Hi to all the people I met and all those I didn’t, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. And to top it all, some excellent back stage handshaking and autograph opportunities were had by all (my kids loved it!)

Master Therion

Another...

After the previous night's excellent extravaganza at Oxford, no sooner my had my ears just about stopped ringing then it was back in the old jalopy and off to Salisbury.

The set here was the same as at Oxford (in the same order too), although the encores were "Love Song", "Eloise", "Looking at You" and "Smash It Up" and for reasons that were unclear, Dave came on sweeping the stage with a large broom.

Things were prefaced with a warning given by a rather, er, large gentleman (tour manager I think) not to throw stuff at the stage. Unfortunately this was taken as a cue to throw things almost immediately. During "Street of Dreams", Patricia did not look happy as she was showered with beer and then Captain took a direct hit just after "Democracy" started. Cue stopping of song. A rather miffed Captain took umbrage and left the stage saying (reasonably I think) he didn't want to be electrocuted. Patricia and Pinch weren't exactly happy either and challenged the offenders to come up on stage. Perhaps that's the answer - get Pinch to knock seven bells out of the throwers. He looks like he can look after himself.

Curiously, Dave didn't seem at all concerned and coaxed Captain back on. The set restarted with the band careering through the songs in the customary excellent manner. Mind you there was another hiatus a bit later when another 1977 relic spat at Sensible. I also noticed another reckless miscreant being given a good talking to by aforesaid large gentleman (who had by now taken up an on stage vigil) - it seemed to put the fear of God up him!

Highlights of the evening were "New Rose", another cracker of "Disco Man" with Dave doing some rather nifty moves, a really good "She", "Ignite" with clouds of dry ice hanging under the coloured lights, "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" (complete with Captain falling over mid song, much to Dave's amusement), an explosive climax to "Neat Neat Neat", a hyperspeed "Love Song" (literally kicked off by Dave doing a scissors leap off the drum riser), "Eloise" (no audience member tonight) and a riotous "Smash It Up" with some of the fine support band Diamond Dogs coming on stage to join in on backing vocals (and featuring another leap off the drums from Dave - that boy'll do himself some mischief one day. A hasty retuning of Captain's guitar also featured). Good to see Patricia moving centre stage a couple of times and a doing quick burst of pogoing now and again.

Beer throwers and spitters aside, the audience were in great form with plenty of pogoing down the front. There were quite a few young kids in the crowd too with kindly Uncle Dave letting them clamber on stage, much to their delight.

I've just remembered that Captain did a quick burst of "Happy Talk" immediately before the encores and it went down well, ending with "there's something you don't get from Paul Weller". How true.

Another fine evening's entertainment. After two 200 mile round trips on consecutive days coupled with outstanding high energy gigs each night of a calibre that only The Damned can provide, I'll be glad to get back to work for a rest!

Froggy

And another...

WOW!! Ok me and my friend got to the gig when the Inbred's had just started their thouroughly entertaining set!!

They played songs such as "Gary Glitter (Baby Sitter)" and "Pretty Vacant". They were pretty good and we thought they were the Diamond Dogs at first until the Diamond Dogs came on and we were corrected! If you like indie rock and roll then they are the perfect cup of tea but if you don't (Like me and Coady) you are forced to wait in the toilet until the end of their set!!

I met the Captain in his tour bus with Pinch before the show, and because I know the Damned I was given Captain's plectrum which was really cool of him!

And then after a few minutes break Leo (Tour Manager) came on to ask people not to throw bottles on to the stage for safety reason's. He then introduced The Damned. And guess what....Some wanker throws a bottle at sensible's face and the Captain get's him taken out of the venue. Then when the idiocy continues the Damned left the stage. They came back three minutes later and Captain apologised for being a grumpy bastard and then dedicated Democracy to Tony Blair!!!!!!!

The mosh was going crazy all night (I would know my arms are covered in bruises!) and they played a really long set which had songs thrown in old and new:

Democracy
New Rose
Eloise
She
Amen
Song. Com
Under The Floor Again
I just can't be happy today
Wait for the Blackout
Would you be so hot (If you weren't dead)

And that is just a handful I can remember!

But all in all the show was a fucking amazing experiance and they as necessary now as they always have been!!

Punk Kid :)