Long, dark journey for the Damned
The Damned were the first U.K. punk band to make an album in 1976, and they’re one of the few that’s remained worth seeing after all these years.
If you meet the band nowadays, odds are good they’ll even be nice to you — instead of dumping an ashtray into your mouth, as they famously did to tour mate Elvis Costello back in the day.
“We were as unpleasant a bunch ... as you could ever hope to meet,” said guitarist Ray Burns, better known to the world as Captain Sensible. “People always say how nice it is to meet us now. We gave (support act) the Ruts a torrid time on one tour, but they certainly got us back on the last gig — by stopping off at a farm and procuring a few sacks of horse manure, which they tippy-toed onstage and hit us in the face with, from behind. That was a bit of a shocker.”
Original members Sensible and lead singer Dave Vanian have guided the Damned through a few handfuls of lineups, the latest of which hits the sold-out Paradise on Thursday. Since the band is now celebrating its 40th anniversary, you can expect a bit of everything, which doesn’t only mean punk: Beginning with 1980’s “The Black Album,” their music took a darker turn, and they’re now credited as one of the inventors of goth.
“We are very much two bands for the price of one,” Sensible said. “When we play the dark material, a few disgruntled moshers head to the bar, and vice versa. But every album has to be represented on this tour, so it’s an across-theboard set list: A celebration of not only 40 years of the Damned, but also us surviving those mad and debauched times in one piece, physically if not quite mentally.”
The Damned’s catalog is surprisingly diverse; they even got Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason to produce their second album. “We wanted Syd (Barrett, Pink Floyd’s founding genius), not Nick, but Syd never showed. Pink Floyd gave us their studio to collaborate in a psychedelic punk project, but it never happened. It’s surprising how good those records sound considering the mania that went on while we were recording them. There was very little sleep going on. Most of the things we tried worked, like backward tape and Beach Boys harmonies. A lot of drinking of course, but it was a massively creative time.”
Through it all there’s been the unlikely partnership of Sensible and Vanian. “We get on great, but in almost every respect he is my complete opposite. In photos you’ll see my cheery smile, whereas he is very much the prince of darkness. He is a movie fanatic, and they bore me to death. He’s known for his elegance, and I’m a total slob. I see my job to grab as much of the spotlight from the frontman as possible, by any means necessary. Which has made for some fun onstage episodes over the years.”