Punk legends The Damned graced Brisbane's Princess Theatre on a Wednesday night (7 June), bringing local fans their unmistakable blend of irreverently quirky UK rock.
A band nearing its 50th decade, it fast became clear that The Damned remain a potently formidable five piece, both in the studio and on the stage.Launching into 'Street Of Dreams' from their 1985 goth-rock record 'Phantasmagoria', the group set the stage for a versatile, decade-spanning show.
Doused in smoky red spotlights and beams, enigmatic frontman Dave Vanian cast an almost vaudevillian shadow, his commanding pipes belting with twice the power of a man half his age.
Travel restrictions in 2022 saw the group struggling to get all original members across borders, which led to a USA tour with Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen filling in.
However, QOTSA are now back in full swing, as is original Damned member and guitarist Captain Sensible, who graced the stage with his ever-recognisable, delightfully goofy charisma.
The Captain commanded the ship on such tracks as 'From Your Lips', the surf-tinged 'Follow Me', and the brooding 'Western Promise' from their latest record, 2023's 'Darkadelic'.
Image © Clea-marie Thorne
Performing 11 of the record's 12 tunes, other songs such as 'You're Gonna Realise' more prominently featured the stylings of synth player Monty Oxymoron.
'Wait For The Blackout' from 1980's 'The Black Album' showcased the band's breadth of material, with its lavish, chorus-laden riffs and larger-than-life lyrics.
Singer Vanian, a professional gravedigger in his early career, carries a relentless grandiosity on stage and on record, creating a theatrical, light-heartedly gothic atmosphere.
Having recently played a string of shows with new wave pioneers Blondie, The Damned hold their own as one of the most revered and influential punk groups.
Though they've certainly seen their share of credit in the annals of punk history, the band has often been compared against the likes of The Sex Pistols and The Clash, with whom they briefly toured in 1977 on the 'Anarchy In The UK' tour.
However, it's clear that The Damned have a far more flexible catalogue, with a dozen full-length albums spanning punk rock, proto-hardcore, goth rock, and psychedelia.
Within each of these genres and several in-between, the band have carved out scores of niche, unique and uncompromising classics, pushing forward every genre in which they've dipped their toes.
The Damned saved many of their early hits for the back portion of the show, rolling out hard riffing classics like 'Born To Kill' from 'Damned Damned Damned' towards the end of the set. This teed up a powerful crescendo, building into a triple threat transition.
Image © Clea-marie Thorne
New addition to the band, drummer Will Taylor seized the stage here, deftly transitioning from their psychedelic odyssey 'Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow' into an interpolation of lyrics and riffs from The Doors.
This led to the main set finale, 'Neat Neat Neat', a fan favourite and the first track from the group's debut record. Brimming with thunderous power from bassist Paul Gray, the track simmered and soared with Captain Sensible's classic SG into Marshall stack lead-guitar tones.
After a brief intermission, the band dished up four generous encore tunes. The introduction to 'Smash It Up' from 1979's 'Machine Gun Etiquette' showcased one of the band's most tastefully delicate arrangements of melodic bass and chiming guitar.
Of course, it'd be strange to walk away from a Damned show without hearing the single that started it all, 'New Rose' – and that's exactly what the crowd received with this ripping, snarling send off.
Rather than descending into legacy act cash grabs, The Damned have always remained on the pulse of what they love, relentlessly dishing up fresh and expectation-smashing records.
Playing no less than 22 tracks, The Damned showed that not only are they one of the most important punk bands of all time, but that they've still got what it takes to prove it – almost 50 years on.
