Fangbase - Reviews

Academy, Birmingham

Tuesday 16th December 2003

December 16th, Yet another brilliant show by the Damned!

This was my third time seeing the Damned, but first time seeing the Damned in England, as I live in Florida. My husband and I just saw the Damned in Ybor City Florida this past... October I think it was. This time, they definatly made up for the shortness of the last show!

A greeeaaaaat cover of "Break on Through". Very very very nice. As many times as I've heard 'Smash it up', hearing it live is always amazing. The whole show was wonderful. I had to buy myself an "enjoy Captain Sensible" shirt of course. Very impressive show. oh, and how could I almost forget, Happy Talk. THAT was a surprise. It was great hearing that live. So yes, another great show by The Damned. Cant wait until the next *please play St Pete State Theatre in Florida again!!!*

~amber~

Another...

It is 1am and I am about to go to bed a very happy boy due to an excellent performance by the Damned. From the moment I glimpsed Captain walk onto stage looking like a cross between an SS Soldier and one of the Village People, to the most energetic performance of Smash it up ever, I never ceased to enjoy this show.

Captain was on great form as usual and Dave Vanian was more animated than I have ever seen him before. Monty was as entertaining as always. Pinch made up for the fact that we couldn't really see him too well by sounding excellant. Patricia was great too especially when she wore Captain/santas hat. Everything about this show was great and more than made up for a disappointing show in Tampa a couple of months ago.

The cover of "Break on through" was, in my opinion, better than the Doors! The inflatable Santa was fun as was Captains rendition of "Happy Talk."

It was good to hear that Captain thinks Americans are "Brilliant people" after seeing his "Stop Bush" shirt. I hope to see more of the Damned in the future and hope that they return to Florida in as good form as they were in tonight soon.

Paul Ullah

There's nothing like a good gig to get you in the mood for Christmas - and this was nothing like a good gig - it was fantastic! My sister had flown over from Australia for the festive period just in time to come to the Academy. Her only previous Damned concert had been at the launch of Grave Disorder at Dingwalls so this was her first time hearing all the old stuff as well as the new. She was suitably impressed.

This was the biggest venue the band had played in the West Midlands for ages having played the Academy 2 last year. Although the venue lacked the intimacy of the Robin or Rock Café, it is quite right that the band now command a larger audience. They also seem to be getting better support bands and Mondel Generator played a long and very loud set. Their lead singer actually achieved the difficult feet of managing to make Captain seem normal!

The only problem with the venue was the lighting as for most of the evening it looked as if the Damned were a three-piece band. Monty was hidden behind his keyboard now complete with waterproof (or should that be beerproof) cover that is so huge you can hardly see him even when he's jumping up and down. The only reason you knew Pinch was there was cos you could see the symbols moving and his very unwitty singing of "Shit on the Villa" - thank goodness Captain brought some balance by slagging off Steve Bruce!

It was nice to see some familiar faces at the gig including the man I described as the "funny bald elf like creature" in my Bilston review resplendent in a Ramones T-shirt with "funny bald elf like creature" on his back. It was good to meet some of his mates who seem to spend most of their time throwing him over the barriers at the front. Unfortunately like the proverbial bad penny he always seems to come back though!

The set was pretty much the same as earlier in the year, a good mixture of songs that have spanned nearly thirty years. Over the last year or so the number of tracks from Grave Disorder has been whittled down on this occasion to She, Amen (with it's now familiar link to 13th Floor Vendetta), Song.com and Democracy - which Dave managed to balls up completely - although it only added to the enjoyment! I particularly enjoyed Disco Man, History of the World and the return of Wait for the Blackout. Others have already mentioned the rendition of Neat Neat Neat with Break on Thru which is excellent - apologies for my ignorance but is this recorded anywhere?!

It was a particularly strong finish to the gig with a full rendition of Happy Talk from Sergeant Sensible (does he own a jacket with his proper rank on it?) accompanied by a large inflatable Santa which had probably been nicked from one of those tastefully decorated houses in Brownhills. This was followed by New Rose, Looking at You, Eloise, Love Song and of course Smash It Up. All in all a great gig even though it finished after closing time!

Not many reviews on Fangbase of the tour at the moment so I trust that everyone else had an equally good time. Thanks to the band for some excellent gigs this year and I look forward to more of the same in 2004 - although there is nothing on the website yet I see the band are booked again at Bilston in March. Happy Christmas to all including Sanity Clause's black country elf.

Paul Newell

Another...

I can't remember a lot due to the excess of cider.

The venue was reasonably full, about 1800 ish. The bar was ridiculous - 6 bar staff. We ended up ordering in bulk just to save us going back and queuing - it was easier.

The support act, Mondo Generator, were not good. I must be getting old, they were just a row. The bass player was out of Spinal Tap, the 'singer' had a wig and wore it on an irregular basis. I was standing at the bar and he had hair; I looked again and he was bald. My first thought was, "Blimey, this cider's good - it's screwed with my vision!" They were a 2nd or 3rd rate Punk/Thrash band. I've seen better and I've seen worse, but they were nothing special. Captain reckoned they were fantastic - he must have been watching someone else.

The main attraction:

Captain came on dressed as a Policeman with a flashing dog-collar. Vanian was dressed for bad weather with his raincoat and red waistcoat. Patricia was the same as normal, just more pregnant than the last time I saw 'em.

They kicked off with Ignite and straight away we knew we were in for a good night. The place just erupted, and this time we were downstairs (we were upstirs in Academy 2 last time).

As usual the set is a blur. I know they played 13th Floor, Blackout; Neat Neat Neat with Break On Through; Song.com; Disco Man; Looking At You; See Her Tonight (I think) and I got the impression he missed Brian James; Just Can't Be Happy - on Monty's big wobbly organ (according to Captain); Love Song; and a few others. (It's the cider eating my brain cells and making me er, um, what's that word when you can't remember? Oh yea, FORGET, that's the word.

In the encore Captain came out with Santa hair, beard and hat, and said he was going to play one of the best records ever. We wondered what it was, and launched into Happy Talk, telling us all 'you love it'.

The rest of the encore was Smash It Up 1 + 2 and they finished with a great punk version of Eloise. I think Looking At You was in the encore - it's those apples again!

Keith