The
Damned gig at Yeovil on Sunday was awesome. Couldn't fault them.
The
support act, The Blank Heads, were very tight and were very
energetic in their performance. But I felt they were let down a bit
by the live mix, the bass drum was a bit OTT.
The
burlesque girls were great. I went with two mates and we thoroughly
enjoyed watching them and it was certainly different. They were very
good in what they did, and the one who played the keyboards was very
funny.
Then
there was The Damned. What can I say? They were absolutely fabulous.
Every song was spot on. Played all the Damned classics....new rose,
neat neat neat, love song, generals, eliose,
history of the world, smash it up parts 1&2, anti
pope.....and many more (I'd love to see a setlist printed).
They
sounded & looked fantastic. The backdrop was great as well.
The
only down side was that the venue was only about a third full, but
I think that some of that was down to lack of advertising in the Yeovil
area.
Thanks
for a great evening.
Paul
Curran
I
found this gig very interesting knowing what we all knew about DV's
voice from the night before at Oxford. Could they cut the mustard?
Large
and pleasant venue... like a big club function room. Not full by any
means - but it WAS big! I stood at the front for around a minute as
I thought the sound there was atrocious. Moved back halfway down the
hall and it was much improved.
DV
was obviously struggling again, but Captain, Monty & Pinch really
padded out the vocal where necessary. As a regular it was obvious
that the DV vocal was not as strong... however, I don't think the
average punter even noticed. The bit where it sounded very different,
with Dave's weak vocal, was on end of tracks such as HOTW,
13th Floor Vendetta - where he made no attempt to the normal
fade out or screamed finishes.
A
good gig, where the playing together night after night is beginning
to show in the musicianship. Particularly keen on some of the crunchy
sounding guitar this time from Captain.
Roll
on Northampton.
Set:
Nasty
Street of Dreams
Neat Neat Neat
Generals
New Rose
Wait For The Blackout
13th Floor Vendetta
Eloise
Disco Man
Absinthe
Shadow of Love
History of The World
Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
Ignite
Encore:
Love
Song
Second Time Around
Antipope
Smash It Up
WR
So
rumours were abounding that this show may not be happening due to
Dave's early bath due to throat problems at the Oxford show the previous
evening, but after a little trouble locating the venue I arrived to
find the support band (Blank Heads) in full flow. They were
ok, nothing special or outstanding and as a result received a lukewarm
response.
Next up Kitten on the Keys and some burlesque entertainment
from Mimi Le Meaux and Missy Malone. This was a bit
different from the usual gig routine with some risqué numbers
and smutty language from the Kitten who also provided some unusual
covers of Anarchy in the UK and "I wanna be sedated".
The dancers were attractive enough but their routines somewhat uninspiring
but hey at least it made a change from the usual lull between bands
and without a pause as soon as the girls had finished, the Damned
were straight onto the stage and launching into a ferocious Nasty.
I was surprised but even as they came on, the venue (a massive hall
with a particularly seedy feel about it I thought) was still pitifully
empty - I'd say way less than half full. Yeovil has a thriving up
and coming music scene and is earning quite a reputation for itself
but tonight there was a disappointing lack of younger element - perhaps
they are only interested in bands that prominently feature in Kerrang
and the like, but the lads didn't seem too phased by this and indeed
those in attendance were certainly were enjoying themselves. After
a few numbers there was plenty of dancing although still plenty of
room to move at the front.
Captain was on top form with banter about Chas and Dave (who had appeared
at the same venue a couple days before), Blah Politics, the changing
image of the band and in particular a rant about Michael Heseltine
(who quit the Tory cabinet over the Westland's helicopter affair -
this gig was at the Westland's social club after all), and Pinch added
that he'd been woken from his slumber that morning by a helicopter.
Sound quality varied around the hall - although not really loud the
bass dominated the left side and to me was very slightly out of tune
towards the end, and at stage front the mix a bit muddy. Captain's
playing was assured and precise with some great riffing and the guys
were certainly gelling tonight.
Monty was quiet throughout spending the whole set silently behind
the keyboard while Stu prowled his side of the stage, moody but assured.
Although Dave's voice was croaky at times, particularly during History
and Vendetta, I guess if you weren't listening out for it,
this may not have even been an issue, and the other members of the
band helped out on filling in vocals in places too.
The light/film show playing behind the band was certainly impressive
and really worked well with montages of old footage, record covers,
psychedelic imagery and live real time film of the band.
The main set was a well rounded and crowd pleasing selection, but
for me the highlight was definitely the encore - a quartet of absolute
stormers from MGE with in particular 2nd Time Around and Anti-Pope
being in my opinion at their best ever, before the show ended and
Captain sprayed the audience with cheap own brand beer while uttering
"99 pence for four cans, is that all I'm worth?"
Set
list:
Nasty
Street of Dreams
Neat Neat Neat
Generals
New Rose
Wait for the Blackout
13th Floor Vendetta
Eloise
Disco Man
Absinthe
Shadow of Love
History of the World
Jekyll and Hyde
Ignite
Encore
Love Song
Machine Gun Etiquette
Anti-Pope
Smash it Up
By
John Higgins
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Thanks
to John Higgins for the photos on this page.
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