I got to say the Damned were fantastic.
Vanian is an awesome frontman.
Just not a band I am very familiar with or into.
Vanian cracked a joke about rats at the old 930 and tied it in with the drummer Rat Scabies.
More than punk to me they sound like a rock and roll band…a bit pub rock actually. Their first stuff was produced by Nick Lowe. They did covers of Love and Jefferson Airplane songs at the show.
The bassist who joined like 45 years ago used to be in Eddie and the Hot Rods….now that’s a band I love.
There were lots of old school DC punters and some younger punk rock girls who danced up a storm. (Insert mandatory Space joke here)
The U St area is an absolute zoo on weekends.
The first time I saw the Damned was in 1998 after Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian decided to start performing together again. It was one of the wildest, most unpredictable things I've ever seen. Absolute mayhem and I didn't know where to look. Bare-breasted women stage diving, amplifiers toppling over onto the drummer, Captain Sensible in a tutu with no underwear, a guy randomly getting up on stage and proposing to his girlfriend, and just all-around audience shenanigans. At one point Captain Sensible started kissing my sister. So by comparison, the 9:30 show was the most polished I've ever seen them but it was no less amazing and I thought performance-wise they were actually better, tighter, and more focused. Plus...they've been a band in some form for like FIFTY years. Mind-blowing.
Everyone is in for a treat that's going to Bob Mould. Caught the New York show and it was the tightest, most intense set I've ever seen him do. No Sugar songs. No 90's Bob. It's like the last 6 LPs (no Sunshine Rock) and Husker Du songs, but to be honest that made it one of the best sets I've ever seen because that band can shoot those songs off like sparks from a roman candle. No encore, just 80 minutes nonstop. I loved the show. Again, further proof that age can be just a number.
