Amongst the bigger name ‘stars’ and more obscure personal favourites who graced the stage at last summer’s BST Hyde Park punk rock takeover event it was one of the most long serving that really stood out.
So, when The Damned announced a full-scale uk tour for early 2018 I wasn’t going to miss it.
Before they hit the stage at O2 Forum in Kentish Town though we were treated to a pair of support acts, one announced and one something of a surprise following opening for the headliners at their show at Camden’s Koko the previous evening.
Describing herself as a ‘piano basher and caterwauler’ is somewhat fitting for Kristeen Young, backed here by a bass and drums rhythm section for a set of bracing power-goth-pop.
While it wasn’t the smoothest performance I’ve seen, with something of a confusion of live piano and sequenced synths and the band maybe a little flustered in a bigger venue, there was a lot of potential atmosphere in the sounds being made.
When it all clicked though some great stuff cut through the echoey ambience of the room and their final song was a real stand out.
Kicking off with Stray Cays classic Rumble In Brighton set the tone for the main support as the ever dapper, suited and blue suede booted, Slim Jim Phantom and his pair of hired gun UK musicians (Nick Wilkinson on bass and James Walbourne on guitar, completing the classic rockabilly revival three-piece line up) played their way through a mix of Cats favourites and early rock ‘n’ roll classics.
A singing drummer is often a slightly awkward thing and, to an extent, that was the case here, particularly given how electric a frontman Brian Setzer is and that really is the only comparison point, but Slim Jim and the band, all of whom had big shoes to fill, did a solid job of it.
In many ways though that’s to miss the point as with great songs and a really relaxed and jovial nature, Slim Jim and co got the crowd warmed up nicely and, when they were joined by ‘true pal’, The Pogues Spider Stacy, it was like a shot of speed being injected into proceedings.
Given Slim Jim’s evident love of telling a story and dropping a few ‘true pal’ names (making how he comes across in his autobiography ring all the more true) I’d love to see him in a more intimate space, something a kin to the previous night’s show from Tom Robinson, but I really couldn’t fault this set for a great rockabilly warm up to the main event.
And let’s face it this is probably the closest to seeing The Stray Cats I’m likely to get anytime soon.
With a new album on the horizon, appropriately due to be released on Friday 13th April, even compared to last summer five piece punk and goth pioneers, The Damned, felt like a band refreshed.
Over nearly two hours they ran the gamut of their repertoire from New Rose to The Love Song to Eloise to Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow and a couple of other new tracks (one about Trump, one not, according to Captain Sensible but I’ll be honest, either could have been).
In the lead up to this they had to cancel a show due to illness and Sensible admitted he and Dave Vanian were both still a little under the weather but, aside from a couple of brief moments, this really wasn’t obvious with both putting on a great performance, though Sensible was maybe not as his most exuberantly jester-like.
Vanian though remained as much like a forerunner to Ghost’s Papa Emeritus III as ever (now I know where that schtick came from Mr Forge!) as he stalked about the stage looking and sounding every part the goth godfather – goth-father… maybe?
Compared to last summer’s outing in Hyde Park here The Damned felt far more like a complete band and I would put that down to the presence of The Black Album era bass player Paul Grey.
Looking like a kind of monochrome mirror of the Captain, he casually meandered around the stage like he was at home and clearly having a great time in a way that seemed to energise both Sensible and Vanian, and he sounded great too on both the songs from his original time in the band and the rest of the repertoire.
Ending the set on the old school blast of Neat Neat Neat soon had the band called back for a four song encore ending on an epic rendition of Smash It Up, before they got called back again with Sensible threatening Happy Talk before giving us Elton Motello’s Jet Boy, Jet Girl and then Slim Jim joining them for a take on Eddie Cochran’s Something Else to close the show, and the tour, in really strong style that could put bands half their age to shame.
Tommy Girard 