THE DAMNED + DOCTOR & THE MEDICS – WINTER GARDEN, EASTBOURNE 14.12.24
Following their formation in 1976, The Damned became the first UK punk band to officially release a single, ‘New Rose’, and an album ‘Damned Damned Damned’. With 12 studio albums and several UK chart singles, the band are pioneers who emerged from the London punk scene, earning an ever-expanding fan base fuelled by legendary live shows. Their dark lyrics and Dave Vanian’s rich baritone vocals also catapulted The Damned to the forefront of the Goth-Rock Genre. The Damned of today defy any categorisation and the ease of which songs from all phases of their career fit together in this ground-breaking spectacle is absolute proof.
On 21st November 2023 music pioneers The Damned announced a huge 12-date UK tour for this month (December 2024), where they were going to bring their 80’s line-up back together with the return of Rat Scabies on drums. This was going to be special on the account of David Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies and Paul Gray were going to be playing together for the first time in 35 years, since 1989. The sole Sussex concert date was for tonight at the Winter Garden in Eastbourne and here’s our account of this show….
The band took to the stage ahead of the scheduled set time and launched into ‘Love Song’, the opener of their 1979 classic ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’, continuing immediately after into the titular second song of the album. After this opening duo of uptempo proto-hardcore thrashers, the band stuck mostly to more mid-tempo material from their mid-80s albums, though delivered with the same intensity. Vanian came on stage in a leather dictator’s coat with gloves, matching his imperative gothic persona, while septuagenarian Brighton resident Captain Sensible wore an orange ‘Where’s Wally?’ jumper along with his signature hat and sunglasses.
The band ripped through the setlist at an impressive rate with an impressive stage presence and musical intensity, with none of the reduced tempos and lowered keys which are sadly common for elder reformed bands. Rat Scabies’ drumming was on top form, including an extended drum solo leading into the first encore, and Sensible’s lead guitar work was strong, though its prominence meant that the sound mixing was slightly muddled, with the bass and occasional added keyboards getting lost in the mix at times, though this could perhaps be due to the venue being less oriented towards these kind of gigs. The audience was full of punks of all ages, with a decently sized mosh pit, and additionally the band’s signature offbeat attitude was displayed by a roadie dressed as Father Christmas making regular cameo appearances at the barrier and then invading the stage during the encore
Saved for near the end of the set were chart hits ‘Eloise’ and ‘Life Goes On’ which were sung along by many in the crowd, and also featured were two selections from last year’s top 10 ‘Darkadelic’ reformation album. While the band favoured material from their 1979-82 period after their initial breakup and reformation, which many see as the ‘real’ start of the band, two classics from their 1977 debut were the main set closer and first encore: ‘Neat Neat Neat’, for which Vanian hoisted his microphone stand for the crowd to shout along into for the chorus, and ‘New Rose’ proclaimed afterwards by the singer to be “the song the Sex Pistols wish they wrote”.
The second encore bookended the set with ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ closer ‘Smash It Up’, after which the Captain closed out the night with a brief acapella snippet of his (semi-inexplicable) 1982 number one single ‘Happy Talk’. Overall, the band maintained their long reputation for impressive live shows with a strong career-spanning set.
The Damned:
Dave Vanian – vocals
Captain Sensible – guitar
Rat Scabies – drums
Paul Gray – bass
Monty Oxymoron – keyboards
The Damned setlist:
‘Love Song’ (from 1979 ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ album)
‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ (aka ‘Second Time Around’) (from 1979 ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ album)
‘Wait For The Blackout’ (from 1980 ‘The Black Album’ album)
‘Lively Arts’ (from 1980 ‘The Black Album’ album)
‘The History Of The World (Part 1)’ (from 1980 ‘The Black Album’ album)
‘Plan 9 Channel 7’ (from 1979 ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ album)
‘Stranger On The Town’ (from 1982 ‘Strawberries’ album)
‘Limit Club’ (from 1981 ‘Friday 13th’ EP)
‘I Just Can’t Be Happy Today’ (from 1979 ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ album)
‘Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde’ (from 1980 ‘The Black Album’ album)
‘Beware Of The Clown’ (from 2023 ‘Darkadelic’ album)
‘Eloise’ (Barry Ryan cover) (from 1986 ‘Eloise’ single)
‘Life Goes On’ (from 1982 ‘Strawberries’ album)
‘The Invisible Man’ (from 2023 ‘Darkadelic’ album)
‘Ignite’ (from 1982 ‘Strawberries’ album)
‘Neat Neat Neat’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
(encore)
‘Curtain Call’ (from 1980 ‘The Black Album’ album)
“Drum Solo” (Rat Scabies)
‘New Rose’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
(encore 2)
‘There Ain’t No Sanity Clause’ (from 1980 ‘There Ain’t No Sanity Clause’ EP)
‘Smash It Up (Part 1 & 2)’ (from 1979 ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ album)
‘Happy Talk’ (Rodgers & Hammerstein cover) (Short vocal only version by Captain Sensible after the rest of the group had left the stage)
Headline support this evening came from none other than Doctor & The Medics featuring the original frontman The Doctor aka Clive Jackson supported by a new lineup. They performed a fairly brief but solid opening set with selections from nearly all of their albums and EPs plus one from next year’s forthcoming album. The Doctor appeared striking with a Beetlejuice-like black and white checked suit and was well matched musically by backing singer Melissa Weekes.
The set consisted of glam rock-tinged stompers, with the band’s 1986 number one single ‘Spirit In The Sky’ (the second of three acts to reach the top spot with the song) saved for last. Just before this, the Doctor gave an inspirational anecdote about how for the best part of two decades he’d “followed the advice Tina Turner was given” and solely played covers, but had finally recently been able to return to making original material. Many in the audience sang and clapped along with “Spirit” and the good communal atmosphere set the stage well for the headliners.
Doctor & The Medics:
The Doctor aka Clive Jackson – vocals
Adrian Hill – drums
Christopher Angelow – guitar
Jon Randle – bass
Melissa Weekes – vocals
Doctor & The Medics setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Perfect World’ (from 1987 ‘Two Pieces Of Cloth Carefully Stitched Together’ EP)
‘Love, Peace and Bananas’ (from 1992 ‘The Adventures Of Boadacea And The Beetle’ album)
‘Forever And Ever’ (The Loving Dead)’ (from forthcoming ‘The Optimal Mystic’ album)
‘No-One Loves You When You’ve Got No Shoes’ (from 1986 ‘Laughing At The Pieces’ album)
‘Terrified’ (from 1992 ‘The Adventures Of Boadacea And The Beetle’ album)
‘Fried Egg Bad Monday’ (from 1986 ‘Laughing At The Pieces’ album)
‘The Molecatcher’s Boot’ ‘Mole Catcher’ (from 1985 ‘Happy But Twisted’ EP)
‘Spirit In The Sky’ (Norman Greenbaum cover) (from 1986 ‘Laughing At The Pieces’ album)
‘Outro’
