TV SMITH & THE BORED TEENAGERS + DAMAGE UK + THE DINZ – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 30.10.22
TV Smith & The Bored Teenagers take time out from supporting the original line-up of The Damned on their reunion tour (Review HERE) to bring their high-octane punk to Brighton’s Prince Albert. Support tonight comes from The Dinz and Damage UK.
The Dinz hail from Portsmouth and consist of Mark Ballard on vocals, Rob Mathew on guitar, Steve Dowdell on bass, and Turkee (I’m not entirely sure whether that’s the name his parents gave him, but that’s what I’ve been told!) on drums. They formed four years ago with the aim of recreating 1977 punk, which from the off is something that they seem to achieve quite comprehensively.
Mark Ballard is a charismatic frontman, whilst Rob Mathew plays effective rhythm guitar mixed with some quite searing solos. He certainly plays more and better solos than Johnny Ramone ever did! The lyrics are often pretty political in a general sense. ‘Treason’ is about the 5th of November for example. ‘Turn That Noise Down’ reminds me instantly of my late father! Interestingly the verses verge on being reggae. One thing that The Dinz’ music reminds you of is that punk music was pretty varied, and was built on a variety of different influences. Anyway, this has been a very enjoyable half an hour. I wish they could have played for longer.
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Damage UK are also only allotted half an hour, so apparently they’re chatting much less than they usually do! They were formed by Brian Damage and Paul Flynn from 1977 punk band Nuffin’, and joined by Reg Charles (from Xtraverts) and guitarist Alan Davidson, who is apparently an “original Belfast punk”. Whatever his origins, his Les Paul is a very assertive presence in the band’s music.
Most of their songs deal with current matters of concern, thus bringing punk bang up to date. ‘Total Surveillance’ is about the proliferation of CCTV in the UK, not to mention just about everything being recorded on mobile phone cameras. ‘Scorched Earth’ is about global warming. ‘The Chains Of Austerity’ is “about never ending grinding poverty”. Very topical! Meanwhile, ‘Wirehead’ is about phone addiction. ‘Interesting Void’ on the other hand, was written in 1980. It still sounds really fresh!
They cover ‘Rosalyn’ by The Pretty Things. It’s much faster than the original. ‘Cyber War’ is the title track of their new album, and features a reggae middle eight. This is a reminder of when reggae was considered (quite rightly) to be radical. Once again, another song with very modern subject matter. Unfortunately the last two songs on their setlist aren’t played. Despite the minimal chat they still run out of time! Another most enjoyable band anyway.
TV Smith wastes no time in taking to the stage with The Bored Teenagers. He also vows to give us very little chat due to time restrictions. The first thing that you notice is that The Bored Teenagers rock much harder than the previous two bands (with all due respect to them). However, this isn’t surprising as they are at most in their 40s, whereas the two previous bands have been in their 50s and 60s.
If my maths are correct TV Smith is 66, and he has far more vitality than a man of his age could sensibly expect to have. He simply doesn’t stop. Mostly as soon as one song stops the drummer is counting in the next one, and away they go. This is how punk was back in the day, and indeed how it should be. It’s quite a lengthy setlist, but they charge through it at an alarming rate! TV sticks to his promise of very little chat, although after ‘I Surrender’ he says “never surrender for long” and then it’s straight into ‘Back From The Dead’. After ‘New Church’ we get another bon mot: “F*ck the old church! This is the new church!!!”
Tonight’s set is effectively an Adverts gig, and it’s brilliant. We get all of the classic ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’, together with four songs from 1979’s ‘Cast Of Thousands’. There’s a couple of B-sides too, plus the single ‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’. Throughout the band are having fun. During ‘Bombsite Boy’, TV and the bass player push TV’s toppled mic stand at each other. The set finishes with a crushing ‘One Chord Wonders’. There’s no encore – there’s no time – but what a gig, what a band, what a man. This is the second time that I’ve seen an older punk artist this year and been reminded of the one and only time I’ve seen the Ramones. Brilliantly astonishing, or astonishingly brilliant. They both work!
TV Smith & The Bored Teenagers setlist:
‘No Time To Be 21’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘Safety In Numbers’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘We Who Wait’ (from The Adverts 1977 ‘Safety In Numbers’ single)
‘Newboys’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘Drowning Men’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘On The Roof’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘My Place’ (from The Adverts 1979 ‘Cast Of Thousands’ album)
‘Television’s Over’ (from The Adverts 1979 ‘Cast Of Thousands’album)
‘On Wheels’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘I Surrender’ (from The Adverts 1979 ‘Cast Of Thousands’ album)
‘Back From The Dead’ (from 1978 ‘Television’s Over’ single)
‘Male Assault’ (from The Adverts 1979 ‘Cast Of Thousands’ album)
‘New Church’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘Bombsite Boy’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘Great British Mistake’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’ (from The Adverts 2002 reissue of ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘Bored Teenagers’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘One Chord Wonders’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
