Ever since I heard The Damned for the very first time a long standing romance developed. The Love Song may not have been directed at me but the way the band fused punk and later Gothic sensibilities together just made them unique and great fun. The fact they were mad, bad and all that and you never knew quite what to expect from them helped my formative music years gel together and seeing them live was always one hell of a kick. Saw them I did, many a time and not just them but crazed off shoot Naz Nomad and The Nightmares too. The Town & Country in London, The Big tent in Finsbury Park, so many memories. I seem to remember that at least half these shows were billed as the final curtain for the band who were breaking up but they never bastard well did; Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible kept soldiering on. Still they were never a shadow of the band at their height; the one who brought out such great albums as Strawberries, The Black Album and the seminal Phantasmagoria. The last time I saw them would appear to be at the Zodiac inOxfordon the 18th December 2003 and although I loved it for nostalgia sake there was a massive gap left by the likes of Bryan James, Rat Scabies, Roman Jugg and Paul Gray from the line-ups of the gigs I remembered most fondly.
This concert took place at the Empire in Shepherds Bush in 2002 and I assume was with the last line-up I saw them with. I am not sure what the Tiki Nightmare theme is all about. Dave starts things off saying ooga booga and wears a garland and Sensible looks suitably Hawaiian but then again that sort of thing was always par of the course for them.
I was chuffed to see that the set list kicked off with Phantasmagoria favourite Street Of Dreams but was not so enthused when play was pressed. The vocals are far too high in the mix and (trying to put this politely) Dave just does not sound at his best here. Things simply do not have the impact here that they should do he croons and ad-libs about things and sometimes sounds like he is trying his best to catch his breath. The band doesn’t do the song the justice it deserves and often are pretty much drowned out by the singer. As the concert progresses I can’t say that I found myself enjoying it much more although some of the classic songs are so good even when they are not spot on you cannot help but be caught up and sing along with them Wait For The Blackout’ being a great example. The ad libbing gets more annoying, Vanian seems to insist on vocal gymnastics and making noises like a parrot over numbers like ‘I Just Can’t Be Happy Today’ pretty much ruining it for me. Speaking of not being happy we could easily have done without ‘Eloise’ and a brief rendition of ‘Happy Talk’
New songs (yeah I know they are over a decade old now) just don’t find me engaging with them and remind why ‘Anything’ was the last album I bought by the band. As for the newer members well Monty Oxy Moron lives up to his name and the keyboard irritates by acting the idiot (nobody can out wanker Sensible, something he should have realised a long time ago). As for bassist Patricia Morrison well she does her best to hide and puts on a static and sterile display.
I know I sound a right misery guts with this one. So some positives? Well there are songs like ‘Neat Neat Neat’, ‘Smash It Up’, ‘New Rose’ and ‘Love Song,’ so it can’t all be bad can it and nobody can mess with that legacy. The extras on the DVD reissue include interviews with all members and are interesting on the whole. Why Dave decides to do his as a voice over random stock footage is a bit strange though.
I would have thought anyone who really wanted this DVD will have picked it up first time around so the reissue strikes as a bit odd. I want to be nicer but have to say that this really is one for the manic Damned enthusiast who will stay with them until they finally call it a day though.
(5/10 Pete Woods)
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