15/12/2006 The Damned @ Islington Academy

Subject	The Damned @ Islington Academy
PostedDate	12/15/2006
	This was another last minute gig - I thought the show might be sold out but I managed to obtain a ticket over the net on the afternoon of the day of the show. I think that like the recent MC5 gig I only just got a ticket in time as when I arrived at the venue it was packed. Unfortunately, I missed The Priscillas supporting - I'd have made the effort to get there earlier if I'd known they were on the bill.  I got a free Christmas CD from them on the merch stall after though.  The Damned kicked off with 'Wait For The Blackout' and played what was effectively a 'greatest hits' set with some recent stuff thrown in too - pretty much what you'd expect overall. Fortunately, the Captain spared us 'Happy Talk'! 'New Rose' turned up very early in the set, which was a surprise as I'd have expected it late in the show or as an encore. The band lineup was the same as their last headline London show at The Forum, and most of the things you'd expect to happen did happen - stuff broke down, the Captain talked some bollocks, there was the usual "Captain is a wanker" chant, and most the songs you'd want and expect to be played gotplayed. There were a few surprises though - they played 'Antipope', and the Captain got almost emotional as he introduced some special guests from the band's early days - Lu Edmonds and Lol Coxhill joined the band onstage on guitar and sax. The Captain did virtually all the banter between songs and told the story behind him writing the song 'Jet Boy Jet Girl' before introducing the Priscillas to perform backing vocals on the song - see the clip I have posted on my video section.  The Damned played for about an hour and a half, and although the tickets were £15 it was well worth it as they were pretty good - although maybe not as good as at The Forum a year ago.