|
The Damned
w/ Swinging Utters, &
Pleasure Forever |
Galaxy Theatre � Santa Ana,
Ca 9-28-01 Review by Phil Dis.
I�ve got some advice I�d like to give anybody
who �thinks� they�re name is on the guest list. �Be smart enough
to get the cell phone number of the tour manager
of the band whose guest list you�re supposed to be on.� I strolled
up to The Galaxy will call and found out that this was a sold-out show
and that they didn�t have my name on The Damned�s guest list, Nitro Records
guest list, or The Galaxy guest list. Did I panic and start throwing
a fit? NO! I simply borrowed a cell phone and called The Damned�s
tour manager whose name I could tell you, but then I�d have to kill you!
After this formerly mentioned tour manager cleared the way for me and put
me in the care of The Galaxy�s hospitality girl Carrie, it was all smooth
sailing from there on out. Not only was Carrie one of, if not �The�
most beautiful girl(s) whose acquaintance I�ve ever
made, but she also does a heck of a job at hospitality. I�ve never
been treated so good or been hooked-up as well at The Galaxy. All
access? Carrie handled it. Photo pass? Carrie handled
it. Thanks Carrie, You rule!
I missed the first band Pleasure Forever
on account of my own tardiness caused by my thinking the show didn�t start
until at least 8p.m. I guess I�ll have to start calling venues in
advance and checking on showtimes.
Next up was East Bay Punk band Swinging Utters. This band surprised
the hell out of me, and all in all I went away thinking they were an incredibly
good old school Punk band. Swinging Utters owe more of their sound
to The Clash than any recent big name Punk bands. Swinging Utters
remind me in terms of their sound alone a lot of a band called One Man
Army who I saw a week earlier. Swinging Utters played for an hour
straight, and one very cool highlight of
their show was when one of their guitarist was left alone onstage with
an acoustic guitar and proceeded to entertain the audience with a very
cool version of Brian May�s classic folk song �39�.
The Damned re-surfaced in Southern California
after a noticeably long absence at last years Blood Drive. Here we
are a year later and we have The Damned touring in support of their newest
masterpiece �Grave Disorder� which was recently released on Nitro Records.
The Damned opened this show with �Democracy� off the new record and the
crowd went ape-s*** from the beginning of this show, all the way to the
end. Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible are the founding members of
The Damned, which means they�ve been around at least 25 years and still
they both look as young and sound every bit as great if not better than
they did in 1977. Vanian�s wife and bass player Patricia Morrison
(ex Sisters of Mercy, Gun Club, The Bags), as well as Pinch on drums and Monty
Oxy Moron on keyboards round out the line-up and
contribute to it being in my opinion the best yet. Sensible has made
the switch from bass to guitar and proves he�s got more than 3 chords up
his sleeve. Hear him play live and one might say with all the wah-wah
and fuzzbox in his playing that The Captain�s got a full-on Hendrix jones,
or a trippy psychedelic one at the very least. Incredible man!
I�m blown-away at The Damned�s ability to incorporate the unexpected into
their new stuff and make the older stuff sound even better. Punk�s
not dead. It just got a whole hell of a lot better!
Phil Dis is a special contributor
to antiMUSIC - Photos by Phil Dis - Copyright 2001 Iconoclast
Entertainment Group - All Rights Reserved
MORE!
Visit
The Damned Official Website to get the lowdown on their new album plus
tons of other cool stuff.
Check
out Nitro Records for more on the Damned and other great Nitro Artists!
Listen
to sound samples and Purchase "Grave Disorder" online
|