25/11/2005 The Damned @ The Forum

Subject	The Damned @ The Forum
DateCreated	11/26/2005 6:19:00 PM
PostedDate	11/25/2005 5:52:00 PM
	Went to see The Damned at The Forum - excellent!  There was a good turnout from Barnet: Pete from the Telematics, ex-Barnet Resident Gary from Plan Aand the frontman from the first band of the night was also from Barnet. First act on was Viva Las Vegas featuring 'Barnet' Mark - who told a Barnet related Damned story on stage. His band was well entertaining with their Elvis covers in a punk rock style. Next up was Wreckless Eric. He played solo - apart from being accompanied by a drummer for the last song of his set - his 'hit' and best known song 'Whole Wide World'. The Damned were terrific! They played nearly all the old favourites I wanted to hear, as well as loads of good newer stuff. Dave Vanian surprised me by appearing in a plain black T-shirt rather than the long black coat I was expecting, and also looking like he'd been bodybuilding instead of the skinny pasty 'Goth' look he is better known for. He is still an excellent frontman though, and Captain Sensible is still very much 'The Captain' - keeping us well entertained  with his banter as well as his under-rated skill on the guitar. And he 'treated' us to a quick rendition of 'Happy Talk'! The band played for about an hour and a half and gave us great value for money - all in all a pretty good night out. Afterwards I considered going to the 12 Bar Club, Crobar, or Decadence but as no one else seemed that interested and as it's a bit cold for standing waiting for the night bus at four in the morning at this time of year I thought better of it and jumped on the tube straight home.