They were out in force tonight. The old guard of Brighton's great and good (and perhaps not so good), to help celebrate 40 years of punk. 40 years since The Damned released the very first UK punk single ('New Rose'), and 40 years (almost) since the very first UK punk album, Damned Damned Damned.

Recent media hype for this 40th anniversary has certainly helped these old-timers. Only a few years back they were playing the Komedia. But now, the grand old lady, Brighton Dome – lest we forget, was built by the Prince Regent back in the day – was host to these survivors of the punk movement. The Damned though never wanted anarchy, they just wanted to play music, fast and furiously. But nevertheless it was a movement that promised to sweep away the old guard with their minimalist glam, Ramonesque garage-punkabilly thrashing.

Tonight was filled with irony. Weren't these punks supposed to be short-lived? And what the hell was Sensible doing head-nodding, whilst in the wings, to Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 'Fanfare For The Common Man', a bombaastic hit from '76 that epitomoised what The Damned were out to consign to the bin of rock'n'roll history. But, The Damned were never that serious about it all. Music as harmless, if somewhat high spirited fun, what they have traded in from the very beginning and tonight they didn't pretend to be anything more than that.

Guitarist, and local resident, Captain Sensible is now 62, while frontman Dave Vanian is 60. Bus pass age the pair of them. But they still look the part; Sensible with his tartan trews, iconic red beret, and badges dotted over his cut-off denim jacket; Vanian still with his dyed black hair slicked back, wearing matching dark gloves, looking like an extra from The Matrix, and gripping that classic Unidyne microphone throughout. And both wearing sunglasses…

Meanwhile, keyboardist and threads extraordianire, Monty Oxymoron (perhaps the best punk pseudonym of them all), showed us some avante-garde dance moves and gestures throughout. Another local resident, he informed us all that the Dome was where he saw his first ever gig, Slade, with his Dad in tow, back in '73. It was the spark for him to want to tread stages around the world, which he has subsequently done since he joined The Damned in '96.

The first half of the show featured the band peforming their debut album in its entirety and in order, beginning with seminal punk song 'Neat Neat Neat' and, of course, including 'New Rose,' some diehards trying to mosh it up at the front, the security men a little perplexed as to what to do exactly. After that it was a deep dive into their repertoire; tracks from the psyche-infused period, tracks from their goth period ('Eloise'), a renditon of 'Disco Man' (in 'honour', of course, of Abba's Eurovision winning performance at this very venue back in '74), and a healthy dose of music from one of their best albums, Machine Gun Eitquette, including an epic version of 'Smash It Up', a tune that sums up The Damned's raison d'etre. A band not so much wanting to smash the system as wanting to smash up the party. In the funnest way possible.
Jeff Hemmings

Read out interview with The Damned here: brightonsfinest.com/html/index.php/spotlight/1992-the-damned-interview-2016

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