Fangbase - Reviews

The Leadmill, Sheffield

Sunday 30th June 2002

O.K - before scripting my review I need to set one or two things in context

*Firstly I am 35 and aside of a fleeting courtship with the Damned at school I can honestly say that I never really went out of my way to listen to them up and until recent times.

*Secondly I would class myself as musically 'knowledgeable' and 'varied' in tastes and experience. Wide ranging tastes include the Cocteaus / Shop Assistants / Dead Can Dance moving onto dance music and classical.

I have seen many groups - Oasis at the famous Main Road concert / The Pistols at Finsbury Park/ The Adicts / Xmal Deutchland / R.E.M... the list goes on.

Well here is the point.

Having seen the Damned four times within the last twelve months I am now convinced that they are without fail the best band I have ever seen by a HUGE divide.

(And what about the gig review I hear you cry)...well Sheffield was the night that convinced me without doubt that I wasn't wrong.

Julian

Another...

It's a decade since the Gravedigger graced The Leadmill and guess what - its not changed one bit.

Support bands; well if ya wanna read about them, then you're on the wrong site matie boy. What struck me first was that there were no barriers at the front of the stage - very strange. I'd only seen this once before and that was at Barnsley Civic Hall, with one bouncer at the front of the stage trying to stop people getting on the stage and looking like a Martin Fry double (the guy from A.B.C.with the flick quiff) By the end he looked quite befrazzzled. Oh, and hats off to the guy who invented stage flopping a new thing but sadly I can't see it taking off.

As for Sheffield....

The gig was fantastic. Sound at times was poor and no intros to some of the songs due to the sound man had buggered off to do a Gerry and the Pacemakers gig (eh ??)

Out of ten - well that would be nine....

Gravediger Brian