The Damned
Tuesday, 3/10/98, The Bottleneck Lawrence, KS
review written - 3/15/98

The History of the World would surely be much more boring if the Damned had never come along. The Damned's extensive output over the past 20 plus years has made many a fan happy, myself included. I've been a fan for about 8 or 9 years now and the opportunity to see them live finally arrived ...

One of my best friends and I made the 180 mile drive to see the 3/10 show in Lawrence, KS, USA at one of the small local clubs, "The Bottleneck". There was 1 opener, a completely forgettable local band that I won't bother discussing. The Captain was milling about the back of the club near the bar talking to people. My friend and I spotted him chatting and signing items so we waited to talk to him. I was quite surprised at how he looks almost exactly the same as he did 20 years ago. Has the Captain discovered the secret to eternal youth? I think so! He was sporting a dark fuzzy sweater (reminiscent of the fuzzies he sported on Machine Gun Etiquette) over a somewhat arabian (?) black shirt, dark shades, black and white checkered hat, some funky sweatpants and black Converse tennis shoes. I forgot to bring my Machine Gun Etiquette tape with me into the club, so I ran to retrieve it from the car. Unfortunately when I'd returned, the Captain had already shaken my friend's hand and fled for backstage to prepare for the show. Oh well, just wanted to say "thanks for all the music, and thanks for coming to Kansas" ...

Blah, blah, blah. On to the show. It started with an unidentified instrumental intro via the keyboardist and bass player. They were quickly joined by the drummer (whom we briefly thought was Rat) and The Captain, then Vanian, replete in his typical elvis vampire look, took the stage as they ripped into the first number. I can't remember the song order exactly, but they played: Noise, Noise, Noise, Neat, Neat, Neat, Curtain Call (edit), Looking at You, Dozen Girls, Disco Man, Shadow of Love, Wait for the Blackout, I Just Can't be Happy Today, Melody Lee, and Plan 9 Channel 7. The set was very high energy, but was a bit bass-y soundwise and I often wished the Captain's guitar was more present in the mix. The bass player seemed to know her stuff, the keyboardist was adequate, the drummer was straightforward with no frills, definitely not of a Rat Scabies caliber. Captain and Dave sounded great. The song selection for the set was great, but the playing of the songs didn't work so well at times. The band and/or Vanian would get lost occasionally and there were several times during songs where the sound just turned to mush. But, overall, you could easily identify the song being played. The one song in particular that sounded perfect was Disco Man, they really hit that one right on the head. Captain is amazing on guitar, his solos have that distinct Captain sound ...

The first encore (with Captain in only underwear and king's crown) was New Rose, then Eloise. The second encore (with Captain in a pink dress) was Happy Talk then Smash it Up pts 1 and 2. The mixed crowd of about a 100 young and old, gothic and punk, etc, etc were quite pleased with the show, as were we. It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot of fun and a necessity for me and my friend to finally see the Damned. The Captain was hilarious in between songs, "we hope the queen mother dies while we're over here so we dont have to see all the tv coverage", he dissed Phil Collins by saying he sleeps with all his fans, he dissed Donny Osmond and said "hey, isn't he a natural treasure for you guys?", and he often asked the crowd for volunteers for a shag. The Captain also frequently poked fun at himself and the band too, which I found refreshing. Perhaps he summed up the experience best when he said at the end of the show "thanks for coming out and taking a look at a little something from the archives of rock history" ...

The best part of this show for me was all the great memories of the joy the Damned have brought me over the years. Hearing these songs live and seeing some of the guys who wrote them standing right there in front of me was overwhelming. Hopefully someday I'll see them again, with Rat back in the drummers seat, ripping through another incredible set of classics and maybe even some new numbers. Thanks for all the great music guys ...

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