30/11/2007 The Forum - Part 3: The Damned

Subject	The Forum 30th November - Part 3: The Damned
PostedDate	11/30/2007
	There was quite a wait after Queen Adreena finished their set - no entertainment between bands this time, although earlier a 'cleaning woman' came out to sweep up some body parts a previous act had carelessly left lying about the stage. 'She' looked vaguely familiar under the heavily applied makeup - our worst fears were confirmed when she launched into 'Happy Talk'. Well it was bound to happen at some point in the evening wasn't it? Still, at least we didn't have to put up with it during The Damned's set! In spite of the doors opening so late, the venue was pretty full later on. As usual I bumped into a few people I know, and also met a nice but strange random girl who came up to me and said I had "eyes like Jesus". WTF?!!  In spite of their only being two original members left in the current lineup, The Damned are still a great live act - which helped make up for the disappointment of seeing the original Sex Pistols lineup recently. This ticket was far better value for money. I guess it also helps that unlike the Pistols this band has more than one album's worth of material to draw from. I don't think The Damned were as good as the last couple of times I've seen them, but they were certainly still well worth seeing even without all the other acts on tonight's bill. They have plenty of great songs, and Captain Sensible is still a nutter! It all makes for a highly entertaining show - without much of the 'going through the motions' vibe I got from the Pistols the other night. I certainly didn't get the feeling I'd been cheated from this show. I'd certainly go and see The Damned again, but the Pistols... Then it was off to SIN for the 'official' aftershow - which as aftershows usually do, turned out to be an anti-climax. Two or three members of the Urban Voodoo Machine turned up eventually - Gary said earlier that they had to go and take all the gear back first so that probably dampened the rest of the band's enthusiasm somewhat. I didn't see any members of The Damned at all - not even in the so called 'V.I.P.' area upstairs. I didn't really expect to see anyone from Queen Adreena, and anyway Katie had to go to hospital after the show to have her head glued back together after cutting it open onstage earlier.