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| GOLDBLADE Manchester Academy Saturday 9th December 206 The Damned without doubt one of my top bands of all time, let me start from the top. First the train from the Hobbit shire to the Mordor of the north, Manchester. Found a top pub called the Kettle And Drum, top beer! Left there, done a few more pubs and arrived at the Academy 2 a bit pissed (no surprise there!!!) So we headed for the bar just in case we hadn’t had enough already. First up were Gold Blade with a wall of sound. This was not really my cup of tea, I don’t know why? They played loud, fast and with loads of energy and had the crowd going fucking mad! They seem to have a Hardcore following who lapped them up. The set was coming to an end when I nabbed the set list off the mixing desk geezer, who was a bit pissed at me but fuck him! Fair game in my opinion he was a hippy! The list consisted of ‘Dance Hall’, ‘Sheep’ with Rob on vocals. Then came the punchy ‘Hardcore’ followed by the very r’n’r ‘Jukebox‘. ‘Psycho‘, ‘Rude boy’, ‘Rebel‘, ‘Riot’ and finally they are joined on stage by a guy in a monks habit sounding like a gospel preacher, singing a mad number called ‘Power‘. By now I needed a piss and more beer. Then as if by magic the Damned appeared looking just as the Damned should. With the legend that is Sensible, wearing that fucking awful sailors outfit that could only look good on him and the famous red beret, the man’s got real stage presence. Not to be outdone the ever fucking cool Dave Vanian looking like a rock’n’ roll Elvis from the planet hell, slick as they come! On his left the bass player Stu, with his partner in crime Pinch keeping the beat at the back. These two keep it as solid as fuck. The keyboard player Monty Oxymoron does his best as the escaped lunatic at the back and he completes the cast of this brilliant horror show. They opened with the classic ‘Wait For The Blackout’ which seemed to please the crowd somewhat. Then came the original punk recording itself ‘New Rose‘, now the place was jumping and POGOING! Not this stupid moshing shit!!!! This was followed by the elegant ‘History of the World’. By now I felt like my heart was going to jump from my chest. The pace slowed with ‘Perfect Sunday’ and ‘Absinthe’ and then straight back into top gear with the brilliant ‘Neat Neat Neat‘. A lot of banter between the Captain and the crowd with the obligatory chorus of “Sensible’s a wanker” and “you fat bastard!“ Then came ‘Alone Again’ and the haunting, dare I say “goth classic” ‘Eloise’, which sounds superb live. Although I was never a great fan of it recorded! Next came ‘Little Miss Disaster‘, ‘Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde’ and ‘Generals’, with the crowd still going mental! Only to be wound up even more by the Caps lead vocals of ‘Jet Boy Jet Girl’ and then straight into the delicious ‘Love Song’. As soon as the crowd including my knackered self heard the opening bass lines from Stu, the place went fucking mental. Never have so many old men jumped so much, at the same time, in one room. Only to be wound up even more, by my personal favourite ‘Smash It Up!’. By this time we had to leave, due to the crap train times. But I am reliably informed from the Damned web site that the encore was ‘I’m A Believer’ (a sing along with the Cap on keyboards), ‘Plan 9 Channel 7’, the classic ‘Anti Pope’, ‘Rabid’ and last but by no means least ‘Looking At You‘! So we left early to get a train and through no-ones fault missed the bastard! We ended up paying £100 to get a taxi back to the shires! But with hind sight I couldn’t give a fuck, they were Brilliant! And anyway we are all DAMNED DAMNED DAMNED. Sleep well my children, The Count Von Loser |
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