Fangbase - Reviews

Bash On Ash, Tempe, Arizona

3rd October 2001

This had been my most anticipated show in years, and anticipated shows go hand in hand with high expectations.

The Damned exceeded those expectations tenfold. They were just as amazing as ever, even without Rat. Don't get me wrong, Rat is one of the top 3 greatest drummers of all time, but after having seen Pinch play, it seems like those oh-so-hard to fill shoes may have found a snug fit after all.

They took forever to come out, and the P.A. subjected the crowd to endless renditions of "Beautiful Balloon" and other lounge pap while we waited for our heroes to emerge from behind the fog machines. Then, some chick got up onstage and made a false announcement that the band was coming out. Then the same cretin who puked all over The Real Kids when they played here got up onstage and grabbed the mike and was promptly escorted out. More lounge music. Finally, The Damned!!!

They opened with Democracy, which in my opinion is bound to go down as a Damned classic. Next up was New Rose and everyone (including myself) went nuts as soon as they heard that "thukka-thukka, thukka-thukka" on the toms. It was strange at first seeing them play this song without Rat, but it only took me about 30 seconds to forget all of that since Pinch was Kickin' out the jams just fine in his own way. In a lot of ways he's like a chip off the old Scabies, but then again, he's got his own style, which makes him fit right in there all the more. Next song was Song.com, also from the new album, then Wait for the Blackout, which sounded just as fresh and vital as it did all those years ago. Next was "Would You be so Hot if You Weren't Dead", which Captain announced was about John Lennon (which I had gathered from the little bit of "Imagine" Monty plays at the end of the song), and how everyone seems to make him out as this saint when he was actually not exactly Hugh Beaumont when it came to his oldest, estranged son Julian. Next was Amen, which didn't seem to go over quite as well as the other new songs, but is a good song regardless. It was right about at this time I started hearing Monty's keyboards dropping out. This became a bit of a problem throughout the show, and Monty's frustration was obvious. After Amen, they segued into what is one of my personal favorite songs, 13th floor Vendetta. It was absolutely intense. Next was Neverland, the song about Michael Jackson, which Dave introduced as "a song about a boy and his monkey". After that, all the lights went green and they played Absinthe, a very 13th floor - feeling song from the new album. Next was Eloise, the one-and-only song they played from their mid-80's Captain-less days. Dave seemed to have caught fire on this one. He was all over the stage, jumping, spinning, and grabbing everyone's hands. It was right about this time I noticed this couple just behind me, who appeared to be high on every chemical known to Hunter S. Thompson, started fucking in the middle of the crowd. Literally fucking. I guess The Damned has that effect on people. Next was Thrill Kill, my personal fave from the new album. At this point, some of the groupies couldn't hold back their enthusiasm any longer and started to try to either pull Dave into the crowd or rip off his clothes. Next was Neat Neat Neat, which just absolutely tore the place up! Dave's vocals never sounded better on this one. The crowd was in a frenzy at this point, but it was all in the name of fun, no fights. Then, after Neat Neat Neat climaxed, they said goodnight and went upstairs to the little skybooth facing out on the crowd, where Captain promptly stripped and gave us his best pressed ham up against the skybox window while Dave did his best Spiderman imitation on the window.

They returned for the encore, with Captain wearing his pink tutu and his wig, and tore into She, another song from the new album destined to be a classic. Then Captain pranced around the stage with a pretty little purse just before they went into Love Song, where I went completely insane so I can't give you any details on this one. After that, Dave walked off the stage to let Captain play part 1 of Smash it Up, but the big Disco ball over the crowd started sparkling and they decided to do a smoking version of Disco Man instead. Then they went back into Smash it Up to close the show. Everyone rushed the stage at the end to sing along the final chorus.

Then, it was ATTACK OF THE GROUPIES!!!

One groupie, of a particularly psychotic disposition, relentlessly went after Dave. After Dave narrowly escaped being raped onstage, said groupie went after the good Captain, who saw her coming and hilariously dry-humped her on her approach.

Then it was on to the parking lot where we hung out with our heroes and the groupies made further attacks. There were old fans, like myself, who felt like they had just had the biggest injection of life since they were 16 pumped into them, along with new fans who were witnessing The Damned for their first (and surely not their last) time, and new converts who had come to see the opening bands, and had no idea what had hit them after seeing The Damned. My faith in Punk as well as Rock'n Roll has been restored. To Dave, Cap, Patricia, Pinch, & Monty... Thanks for the night!

- Brewzerr