THE DAMNED + SKIDS + TV SMITH & THE BORED TEENAGERS + SMALLTOWN TIGERS – EVENTIM APOLLO, HAMMERSMITH, LONDON 28.10.22
I’am reviewing this very special The Damned original members reunion concert on the account of my dear friend Dave Towse aka ‘Davey Ramone’, who sadly passed away at the tail end of last year. In his will he bequeathed me his treasured punk rock collection which included several unused concert tickets, tonight being one of those! Thank you, kind friend!
I would have also been attending this evening with my partner, Jordan Mooney, as she was great friends with Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian (of The Damned) but unfortunately cancer claimed her life too. So as a tribute I donned one of my Jordan t-shirts and headed off to Hammersmith without her. My choice of top was a talking point with a few fans who only had wonderful things to say.
Tonight’s performance was the first of two reunion concerts at the Eventim Apollo for the original members of The Damned, namely lead vocalist Dave Vanian (David Lett 66), guitarist Brian James (Brian Robertson 67), bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns 68), and drummer Rat Scabies (Chris Millar 67), who formed the outfit in London back in 1976. They were reported to be the first punk rock band from the UK to release a single, ‘New Rose’ (22nd October 1976), release a studio album, ‘Damned Damned Damned’ (18th February 1977), and tour the United States.
Brian James had previously been a member of proto-punk band ‘London SS’, which included future stars, guitarist Mick Jones (the Clash) and bassist Tony James (Generation X), whereas Vanian, Sensible and Scabies had been in an outfit called ‘Masters Of The Backside’, which also included future Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde. Scabies knew James through a failed audition as drummer for London SS. When the two decided to start their own band, with James on guitar and Scabies on drums, they invited Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols and Dave Vanian to audition to be the singer. Only Vanian showed up, and got the part. Sensible became the band’s bassist, and the four called themselves the Damned.
They played their first show on 6th July 1976, supporting the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club and in March 1977 they opened for T. Rex on their final tour before Marc Bolan’s death that September. Brian James wrote almost all the material on their first two albums (‘Damned Damned Damned’ and ‘Music For Pleasure’) before leaving at the end of 1977. Scabies was displeased with the ‘Music For Pleasure’ album, and quit the band after the recording. The original four band members temporarily got it on again for a few live appearances including a concert at the London Town and Country Club in June 1988 which was released the following year as ‘Final Damnation’ (1989). On 21st October 2020 the band announced that they would be performing these new reunion concerts.
Prior to that announcement, we at Brighton & Hove News had an exclusive interview with Rat Scabies back in April 2018 – Read what was discussed HERE. We also reviewed the launch of Brian James’ book ‘Bastard, The Damned, The Lords Of The New Church and More: The Authorised Biography Of Brian James’ at Waterstones in Brighton on 12th March 2020 – Read our account HERE.
The Damned last performed live in Brighton on 26th and 27th June 2019, when they played at the Concorde 2. The Brighton & Hove News team were there – Read our account of both concerts HERE. Prior to that they appeared at Brighton Dome on 19th November 2018 – Review HERE.
Captain Sensible was back in action in Brighton on 29th May this year, when he played a special one-off performance with his old outfit Johnny Moped as part of ‘The Official Jordan Mooney Memorial Charity Concert’ – Read the full review of that special day HERE.
Back to tonight at the Eventim Apollo and The Damned set lasted 70 minutes and in that time they played the whole of their Nick Lowe produced debut album ‘Damned Damned Damned’, but in a different running order, along with a sprinkling of tunes for their second platter ‘Music For Pleasure’.
The intro tape of the famed ‘Dr Who Theme’ rang out from 9:20pm as Scabies took his position to the rear on the drumrise. He was followed by James who anchored himself close to the bottom left corner (stage right) of Scabies drum kit. ‘The Captain’ swiftly followed with his beaming smile and customary ‘V signs’ to the crowd. He took up shop front stage right (our left), and the quartet was completed with the arrival of Vanian who was front centre, but not for long! “This really is ‘Second Time Around’” announced Sensible and the sold-out crowd went wild. The tone had been set.
I was one of the first few fans into the venue this evening and made a beeline to the merch stall as the band had announced that they would be selling official bootleg CD’s of tonight’s show and these were limited to 200 copies. I enquired as to how this would work with the staff and they said that they would be available for collection immediately after the performance. Time was seriously tight and I knew I would be down the front of the venue, and indeed I was on the barrier for the duration of the night, but this would more than likely have meant that I would be customer 200 on returning to the merch stall. I seriously couldn’t chance it as I would have missed the last train back to Brighton, so I decided against purchasing one. I hope that I don’t regret this!
As you would expect, it was rather squishy at the front, but this did afford me a bird’s eye view of the band. This was to be a mixed blessing! On the positive side, I almost immediately noted that Sensible was wearing six badges on his right lapel of his sailors top, with the largest of those being of my partner Jordan in her famed red rubber outfit – good man Captain! On the negative side, I had decided to send a message on my mobile phone to Jordan’s sister telling her what Sensible was wearing! As I was completing my message, my left shoulder was jarred from behind by the woman standing behind me, I immediately looked up and right there in front of me was Vanian crouching down looking right in my face! I clearly wasn’t paying attention to him and he wanted to embarrass me as a result. I couldn’t really tell him what I was up to could I? No doubt, that will be one of my memories from tonight’s performance.
The Damned has kicked off with their rendition of The Stooges ‘1970’ track, which they re-christened ‘I Feel Alright’ for their debut album. They followed this with ‘You Take My Money’ (from the 1977 ‘Music For Pleasure’ album). Next up was the Beatles cover ‘Help!’, which was the B-side of their debut ‘New Rose’ single. It also eventually turned up on the 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition of ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album. That was a trio of tunes down with eighteen to go. The press photographers were nearly all only allowed to shoot the first three songs, and thus they had to vacate the pit, with a couple of exceptions. Vanian was all dressed in black, including his long black vampire style steampunk overcoat, which was removed after those three tunes.
‘Born To Kill’ came and went and was followed by ‘Stretcher Case’, which saw Sensible change over bass guitars. The new one sounded really meaty! A trio of debut album tracks followed ‘Feel The Pain’, ‘I Fall’ and ‘Fan Club’. After those came ‘Alone’ and ‘Fish’. Then during the next number, ‘1 Of The 2’, Vanian jumped off the (circa 3ft 6”) stage and leaned over the crowd barrier to greet some fans positioned at the centre front. Clearly, the adrenalin had kicked in and he was getting more and more animated. In fact throughout the whole set, he was parading around the stage with the amount of vigour that someone half his age might have. Scabies was also energetic and animated, but sitting at the drums, obviously couldn’t go anywhere. As always Sensible was full of the beans and adding a few quips and moving around freely. I was however becoming more and more concerned with James’ demeanour. From the outset, he had anchored himself near Scabies and hadn’t moved from his spot. He was hunched over playing his guitar, with his now customary hat, and was to be honest looking rather frail. I don’t recall him being like this when I met him two and a half years ago!
The fast and furious ‘Problem Child’, ‘Neat Neat Neat’ and ‘Stab Your Back’ were the next three tunes given an outing and very well they went down too, with an increasing number of fans crowd surfing and being carried over the barrier. I even recognised one guy who had done the same thing a few songs earlier. ‘Sick Of Being Sick’ and ‘See Her Tonite’ followed. Then for ‘You Know’ (from the ‘Music For Pleasure’ album), saxophonist Mike Smith wandered on stage to join the lads. For this tune, Vanian climbed the speaker stack immediately in front of me and looked like a cat spying his prey, yep he was cool alright!
The final number of the main set was ‘So Messed Up’ which was another decent rendition. Immediately after it finished, I noted a roadie had to slowly assist James off stage. They did return for a trio of tracks, the brilliant ‘New Rose’, which I suspect was the best received of the night and that was followed by a Bo Diddley tune called ‘Pills’. This was a little ragged and I spied Vanian looking at Sensible as though the two of them didn’t really know what was going on behind them. Down the years of watching The Damned, some of their live sets have been a little like this, where they didn’t quite gel for one reason or another. I suspect that Scabies had been getting a little overenthusiastic, but he’s still clearly got it!
They had played a Beatles number this evening and now it was time to end with a Rolling Stones number, the aptly titled ‘The Last Time’, which they had also performed back in 1988 on the ‘Damnation’ tour. After the final note at 10:30pm, James’ guitar was helped off his neck and shoulder by a roadie and he was off! He had survived! Or as Sensible put it “we made it and no-one died!”. They all have to go through it again tomorrow night!
In summary, it was an honour to see the four original members back for one final ride, and I honestly believe that there won’t be any others after these few dates. It wasn’t my favourite ever Damned gig, as many of the later 1979/1980 ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ and ‘The Black Album’ material is arguably better. But it was a chance to witness Brian James in action for only the second or third ever time in my gig going history, the previous being during his stint with Lords Of The New Church, with one of those being in my Top 10 ever gigs!
The Damned:
Brian James – guitar
Rat Scabies – drums
Captain Sensible – bass, backing vocals
Dave Vanian – vocals
Mike Smith – saxophone
The Damned setlist:
(Intro) ‘Dr Who Theme’ (composed Ron Grainer)
‘I Feel Alright’ (cover of The Stooges ‘1970’) (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘You Take My Money’ (from 1977 ‘Music For Pleasure’ album)
‘Help!’ (The Beatles cover) (from 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition of ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Born To Kill’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Stretcher Case’ (from 1977 ‘Music For Pleasure’ album)
‘Feel The Pain’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘I Fall’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Fan Club’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Alone’ (from 1977 ‘Music For Pleasure’ album)
‘Fish’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘1 Of The 2’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Problem Child’ (from 1977 ‘Music For Pleasure’ album)
‘Neat Neat Neat’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Stab Your Back’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Sick Of Being Sick’ (from CD reissue of ‘Music For Pleasure’ album)
‘See Her Tonite’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘You Know’ (from 1977 ‘Music For Pleasure’ album)
‘So Messed Up’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
(encore)
‘New Rose’ (from 1977 ‘Damned Damned Damned’ album)
‘Pills’ (Bo Diddley cover)
‘The Last Time’ (The Rolling Stones cover) (from 1989 ‘Final Damnation’ live album)
The Scottish art-punk unit Skids, who formed in Dunfermline in 1977 were the main support this evening. They graced the stage 20 minutes after the previous act. They last played live in Brighton a year ago on 30th October 2021 – Read our review HERE. Back on 21st September 2018, we attended Richard Jobson’s reading in Brighton at the Latest Music Bar of passages from his acclaimed new sci-fi novel ‘Speed Of Life’. Read our account HERE.
This evening the band ran through ten numbers during their 42 minute set, which commenced to an almost full house at 7:58pm. On the face of it, for a punk gig, ten tunes in forty-plus minutes is slow, but when you factor in Jobson’s crowd banter which lightens the mood, informs the punters some decent nuggets interspersed with witty sarcasm, plus not forgetting that it gives him a break from his famed boxing style silly dance, then you can imagine where the time went. I noted that Jobson reused a number of ditties that he told us all at Rebellion, thus clearly he has a format and it’s not as spontaneous as it might appear.
Their format was Jobson on vocals, Bruce Watson and Jamie Watson on guitars, Gil Allan on bass, and Nick Hernandez on drums. All, bar the drummer, were also taking care of backing vocals.
We learned that the connection with headliners The Damned runs thick with ‘Jobbo’, as when he was just 15 years old, he went to his first concert which just so happened to be The Damned in Edinburgh, and not only that but Captain Sensible got him in free of charge through the back door as he couldn’t afford a ticket! I won’t elaborate on that, but ‘Jobbo’ went off into the realms of fantasy as according to ‘The Captain’ later on stage. Those that were present tonight will get the joke! We were also reminded that the Skids final live performance with co-founder member Stuart Adamson (RIP), took place in tonight’s venue, when it was called Hammersmith Odeon. In fact, I still call it Hammersmith Odeon!
During the banter included in the set, ‘Jobbo’ also told fans that the Skids were responsible for writing the worst ever tune in the history of pop, which is fondly known as “Albert Tatlock” on account of its usage in the song. Albert Tatlock is a fictional character in Coronation Street who was played by actor Jack Howarth from 1960 to 1984. The song’s real title is ‘TV Stars’ and yes, the DID play it tonight and it was introduced as “just for you, take this piece of shit”. Jobson also reminded punters of his ill advised choice of clothing on ‘Top Of The Pops’, in particular his cricket jumper, denigrating himself by shouting “what a w*nker!”.
Most of tonight’s material was from their early 1979-1980 days, which was just fine by me! We had four from 1979’s ‘Scared To Dance’ album, including openers ‘Of One Skin’ and ‘The Saints Are Coming’; four from ‘Days In Europa’, which also originally also dropped in 1979 including ‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’; and ‘Circus Games’ 1980’s ‘The Absolute Game’ album.
Suffice to say that the song that got the loudest applause of their set as well as so far this evening was the epic ‘Into The Valley’, which was tune number eight of ten. Their enjoyable 42 minute set ended with their rendition of ‘Complete Control’ by The Clash. It would be another 40 minutes until we were to hear live music again at 9:20pm this evening.
The Skids will be coming to Brighton on 1st April 2023 (no joke!), when they will be thrilling fans at the Concorde 2 – Purchase your tickets HERE.
Skids:
Richard Jobson – vocals
Bruce Watson – guitar, vocals
Jamie Watson – guitar, vocals
Gil Allan – bass
Nick Hernandez – drums
Skids setlist:
‘Of One Skin’ (from 1979 ‘Scared To Dance’ album)
‘The Saints Are Coming’ (from 1979 ‘Scared To Dance’ album)
‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Charade’ (from 1979 ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Out Of Town’ (from 2001 reissue of ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Masquerade’ (from 2001 reissue of ‘Days In Europa’ album)
‘Circus Games’ (from 1980 ‘The Absolute Game’ album)
‘Into The Valley’ (from 1979 ‘Scared To Dance’ album)
‘TV Stars’ (from 2005 reissue of ‘Scared To Dance’ album)
‘Complete Control’ (The Clash cover) (from 2021 ‘Songs From A Haunted Ballroom’ album)
The Adverts came together back in 1976 as TV Smith (Tim Smith) and Gaye Advert (Gaye Black). Smith was from the town of Okehampton in mid-Devon, and Gaye was from Bideford, a small coastal town in North Devon. After relocating to London, the two young punks recruited guitarist Howard Pickup (Boak) and drummer Laurie Driver (Muscat).
London’s first live punk venue, The Roxy, played a crucial role in the Adverts’ early career. They were one of the pioneering bands who played at the club during its first 100 days. They played the club no less than nine times between January and April 1977. In January 1977, after their first gig supporting Generation X, the band impressed Michael Dempsey so much that he became their manager. Their second gig supporting Slaughter & the Dogs was recorded, and their anthem ‘Bored Teenagers’ was included on the 1977 UK Top 30 album ‘The Roxy London WC2’. In February, shortly after the band’s third gig supporting the Damned, they signed a recording contract with Stiff Records.
The Adverts recorded the first of four John Peel sessions and days later, on 29th April 1977, their debut single ‘One Chord Wonders’ was released by Stiff. On 19th August 1977, they released the legendary ‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’ single, which was a controversial song based on the wishes of Gary Gilmore, an American murderer, that his eyes be donated to medical science after his execution. This was also the first real true punk record that I purchased!
The Adverts last gig was at Slough College on 27th October 1979. After the band ended, TV Smith continued with Tim Cross RIP (9th July 2012) as TV Smith’s Explorers, then Cheap, and finally as a solo artist from the 1990s onward, although this evening TV Smith informs us that he has brought the Bored Teenagers over from Barcelona to be with us tonight.
As there are four bands on this evening, the turnaround times are swift, which I am a fan of, this just 16 minutes after the opening act had left the stage the Bored Teenagers took to the stage followed by the energetic TV Smith immediately behind them.
We last witnessed TV Smith at R-Fest as part of this year’s Rebellion punk festival which is held in Blackpool. He bounded on stage on 7th August during the Tom Robinson set and helped out with a few numbers. He brought a vibrancy to that set and indeed he does so this evening which is impressive for a 66 year old.
TV Smith & The Bored Teenagers are tonight playing a full Adverts set made up of 11 compositions that were rattled off in super-quick time. All of the tunes can be found on The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ debut album. They played the whole record bar ‘New Church’ and ‘Drowning Men’. Surprisingly, there were no tunes performed from the 1979 ‘Cast Of Thousands’ follow-up album during their 30 minute set.
The quartet’s format was the usual lead vocals (TV Smith), guitar, bass (with backing vocals), and drums. They began at 7:08pm with ‘No Time To Be 21’, followed by ‘Safety In Numbers’. TV Smith was roaming and bouncing around the stage for the duration of the performance, which concluded with a trio of absolute classics ‘Gary Gilmore’s Eyes’ (the best), ‘Bored Teenagers’ and ‘One Chord Wonders’. The punters certainly gave their approval and at 7:38pm the band was done!
TV Smith & The Bored Teenagers will be playing live in Brighton at The Prince Albert on Sunday 30th October, with doors opening at 8pm and the event running through until 11pm – Purchase your tickets HERE.
TV Smith & The Bored Teenagers setlist of The Adverts tunes:
‘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)
‘On The Roof’ (from The Adverts 1978 ‘Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts’ album)
‘On Wheels’ (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)
First up this evening are Smalltown Tigers who I haven’t yet had the pleasure of witnessing live. They are a trio consisting of Valli, Monty and Castel who hail from Rimini on the east coast of Italy. They earned their stripes playing squat clubs and beach parties, before scooping the support slot for the likes of Hagar The Womb, Baby Shakes, The Menstrual Cramps and The Speedways.
It would appear that the Smalltown Tigers are making inroads on the Euro garage-punk scene after dropping their debut single ‘Just Friends’ on Area Pirata Records, which was followed by their 8 song mini-album ‘Five Things’ which dropped just in time for the first Covid lockdown in spring 2020. Valli and Monty previously played together in another band called Rockaway Bitches that’s still going on, and Castel has three bands that she plays with… a sort of international drummer ensemble from all over the world called Drumatica, an all-female hard rock/metal cover band called Whiskey Wives and a pop-rock project in the Italian idiom called Le Figurine.
Wind the clocks forward to the present and these Rimini punks are set to finally get their name out there and landing the opening slot for The Damned this evening will certainly take them to another level.
There was no hanging around with their nine song 22 minute set which commenced at 6:30pm on the dot. This was only around fifteen minutes after the security staff started letting punters into the venue, thus they were performing to a small audience as compared to the other bands, but those present were certainly enjoying what their ears were hearing, although the sound was echoey either due to the sparseness of humans or the sound setup on the night.
The girls were showing their unity as a group by all sporting virtually the same clothing, that being black, brown and white striped jumpers, black shorts (although the drummer had black leathers), and black stockings. They all had long hair. The format was bass guitar with lead vocals, Fender Stratocaster guitar and vocals, and drums. WE learned that it was bassist Valli’s birthday, what a way to celebrate!
Their sound was a blend of punk rock previously offered by the likes of The Runaways (Joan Jett) and the Ramones, with a sprinkling of very early B-52’s and heyday Suzi Quatro. The choice track for me was the Ramones-esque ‘Monster’, which I do believe is currently unreleased, so the future is looking bright for these no messin’ ladies. At 6:52pm they were done. It would be rather good if they were to come to Brighton as I know many folks that would enjoy their sound.
Smalltown Tigers:
Valli – bass, vocals
Monty – guitar, vocals
Castel – drums
Smalltown Tigers setlist:
‘Five Things’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Crush On You’ (unreleased)
‘Find Myself Another Name’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Runaway Gal’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Girl’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘I Want It Now’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Monster’ (unreleased)
‘Darling Please!’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Just Friends’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
Fantastic review – thanks so much.We we’re there too on Friday and this review captures so many memories of a special gig !
Thanks for your interest Mark.