You may recall that the original lineup of The Damned, Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible, who are still in the current line-up, and guitarist Brian James and drummer Rat Scabies who hadn’t played with the band in decades — were set to reunite for a few shows in 2021 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of The Damned’s debut single, “New Rose,” which was possibily the first UK punk single. Those got postponed due to the pandemic but the short tour kicked off this Friday at London’s Eventim Apollo.
“It’s the gig they said would never happen!” cracked Captain Sensible at the show, joking about the well-known acrimony between Vanian/Sensible and James/Scabies. But happen it did.
Walking out to the Doctor Who theme, the band stuck to material from their first two albums — including classics like “Neat Neat Neat,” “Problem Child,” and “Born to Kill” — plus covers they used to play around the time, including The Stooges’ “1970” which they retitled “I Feel Alright” for their debut album and opened the London show with. “It was even more garage than I remember back in the day,” Sensible said after the show. The encore opened with “New Rose,” and then they finished with covers of Bo Diddly’s “Pills” and The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.”
It was not the last time, though, as they played the Eventim Apollo again on Saturday with the same setlist and have three more reunion shows this week (Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham).
Check out the full London Night 1 setlist:
SETLIST: The Damned @ Eventim Apollow, London 10/28/2022
1970 (The Stooges)
You Take My Money
Help!(The Beatles)
Born to Kill
Stretcher Case Baby
Feel the Pain
I Fall
Fan Club
Alone
Fish
1 of the 2
Problem Child
Neat Neat Neat
Stab Yor Back
Sick of Being Sick
See Her Tonite
You Know
So Messed Up
Encore:
New Rose
Pills (Bo Diddley)
The Last Time (The Rolling Stones)
The Fat Angel Sings 