The Damned, The Apollo. 3rd November 2022

I’ve not seen The Damned play live for 20 years. I’m not even sure how much they’ve played in the last two decades. What I do know is their last studio album, 2018’s ‘Evil Spirits’ was a great listen. There’s nothing from that album tonight though. In fact it’s a pretty focused set list on the first two albums. Maybe that’s because this is a one off mini tour with the original line up and they don’t want to play the stuff that followed. That’s a shame though, it means no ‘Eloise’, no ‘Grimly Fiendish’. The Damned really do have some brilliant songs. That’s not to say tonight’s set isn’t good. They kick off with ‘I Feel Alright’, which sets the raw punk tone. The theatrics are here too though, with Vanian on stage how can there not be. Dressed in a black silk shirt, leather gloves, hair slicked, a bit of lippy, looking as vampiric as ever. It’s clear he’s here to entertain and he’s doing the heavy lifting to be fair. Scabies and Jones are solid but not very animated. Sensible though, dressed as a cross between a sailor and Dennis the menace, does get into the spirit. Their ‘Help’ cover sounds great in its sped up brilliance, but it takes a few songs for the crowd to get in to it. ‘Stretcher Case Baby’ does the trick. The old punks abandoning any hope of their mohawk’s staying in place as they bounce around. Vanian sounds good, they all do. It’s fast, tight and brutal… although ‘Feel the Pain’ is a bit of a dirge until Scabies gives it some to finish. “Are you still there?” Vanian asks as they close ‘I Fall’ and rip into ‘Fan Club’, the crowd singing back as if to say, yeah we’re still here Dave. Now as fun as this is. The ticket price for what is a pretty striped back albeit great show, does feel a bit of a piss take. I won’t blame the band, and I’m generally wary of calling out this sort of stuff. We all know that the music industry is on its knees, but someone is taking a bigger slice tonight than is justified. If you disagree, fine, but I don’t think I’m wrong. Anyway I’ve snuck that in so as not to end on on a sour note. The band and these songs don’t deserve that. As the set goes on, it gets even faster, even better. ‘Problem Child’ sounds fucking fantastic and could be my favourite, before Vanian looks at the set list and whispers “Ah this one”. It’s ‘Neat Neat Neat’ and it’s phenomenal, almost worth that eye watering admission alone. Vanian and Sensible look like they’re having a blast during ‘Sick of Being Sick’ and even Scabies gets off his stool to grab the mic and say hello. There’s some deep cuts here for any casual listeners though and the crowd half way up the Apollo look a bit bored in places and ready for bed. Get down the front I say, it’s more fun. ‘You Know’ sounds better live than I’ve ever found it on record. Vanian stalking the barrier as the bludgeoning rhythm hammers away and a fella with a saxophone blows until his lungs burn. It closes the set before we do the will they won’t they encore nonsense. They will obviously. They’ve got to play ‘New Rose’, which they do to a sea of phone screens recording shit footage that no one will ever watch. Shove your phones up your arses you fucking pricks! It’s brilliant though and essentially ends the set, even though they insist on rolling out a couple more covers, with Scabies setting fire to his cymbals and Sensible smashing that stupid McCartney bass. Last time I saw them was in a tiny club and I can’t help but feel they’d have been better in a smaller venue tonight. The Damned have still got it though.