Engine Punk

Captain Sensible is mature beyond his years (in a reverse direction of course) Photo : Official Damned website The Damned played in Falmouth at the Princess Pavilions last night and were like a tin of Ronseal - they did exactly what is said on the label. The Princess Pavilions is an old theatre that is growing older disgracefully but has recently been done up - a contradiction in terms but it seemed to welcome such outrageousness from these punk pioneers. The Damned have always had a strong image and Dave Vanian the gothfather looked very much at home. He can sing, too. I reckon Dave's got one of the best voices in rock today and he still delivers. During the set, the drummer, Pinch, was watching some overpaid prima donna's kicking a pig's bladder about and kept updating some of the audience who might have been interested in the score but this didn't detract at all from the show and added to the humour and intimacy. Apparently, the desired outcome was achieved ...

It's been a while since I went to the Exeter Phoenix and it seems to have shrunk. Maybe I've grown up a bit during the last three years. More likely it was the stature of punk icons The Damned. It certainly felt more intimate than last time. I'm going to let you into a secret. The Damned are actually very fine musicians. I shouldn't have been surprised after seeing them perform over so many years. They've been doing it for long enough to get quite good. It’s just that their image and self-deprecating stage antics tend to gloss over this fact. Dave Vanian's got a brilliant voice and Monty Oxymoron tinkles the ivories very well. But Captain Sensible is actually a very good guitarist and can do all that back of the neck stuff. That's his neck, not the guitar’s. He usually does it after asking the rhetorical question, why punk? "I'll tell you why punk - it was all those ten minute guitar riffs and half hour drum solos!" Cue the good captain to do a...