By Lisa Burke
September 5th 2015, Fonda Theatre, Hollywood CA: Featured in the recently released documentary film “Don’t You Wish The Damned Were Dead”, English goth/punk legends The Damned are currently on a short string of US headline shows leading up to an appearance at Riotfest in Chicago, and as part of the run, played a gig at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood last Saturday, with C.J. Ramone as the opening act. Our writer Lisa Burke was in attendance to capture the show for us. Check out her review below:
On a typical Saturday night in LA one thing you can always count on is that there is never a shortage of great concerts to attend, and this past Saturday was no exception. I was fortunate enough to see The Damned and C.J. Ramone play at one of the best remaining venues in Hollywood, The Fonda Theatre. Both of the original incarnations of these bands which includes the Ramones formed in the mid 70s, and were a major influence on many of the rock ‘n roll bands of subsequent generations.
Unlike The Damned, C. J. Ramone is a solo project performing mostly Ramones covers, and does not include any original members of the Ramones as C.J. joined them in the late 80’s, and all the original members are now deceased. Considering the low expectations I had set myself up for, they put on an entertaining show that got the crowd appropriately riled up for the next act. Favorites of course were ‘Judy is A Punk’, ‘The KKK Took My Baby Away’, ‘Psycho Therapy’ (Ramones covers), and the finale song R.A.M.O.N.E.
S. which is a Motörhead cover that Lemmy wrote as a tribute to the Ramones. C.J. on vocals was basically a cute attempt at the dynamic energy of the original Ramones line up, yet the quality was there and the point was clear. A common theme in this era of punk and a Ramones signature is the vocal count up to the intro, and I’m fairly certain while this is a fun quirk, it happened before almost every song to the point where I thought he should just conjure up the 1-2-3-4 original Ramones to help him not turn his performance into punk rock comedy hour. All in all, it was fairly decent representation of an era that once was and can never be again.
Set list:
01. Understand Me?
02. Won’t Stop Swinging
03. One More Chance
04. Judy Is a Punk
05. Baby, I Love You (The Ronettes cover)
06. What We Gonna Do Now?
07. Pitstop
08. The KKK Took My Baby Away
09. Carry Me Away
10. Cluster Fuck
11. Psycho Therapy
12. Endless Vacation
13. Three Angels
14. Last Chance to Dance
15. ‘Til the End
16. Surfer Girl
17. 53rd and 3rd
18. California Sun (Joe Jones cover)
19. R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Motörhead cover)
Moving on to the legendary punk/goth band The Damned, I felt like I got in a time machine and travelled back to the day they reached their greatest success. Enough of the original line up is still present, including Captain Sensible on guitar and Dave Vainian on vocals, for the audience to really be able to appreciate what this band has always been about. Dave was sporting the classic vampire look well, and the funky sailor/captain uniform of Captain Sensible makes for an entertaining visual aspect that was complimented by a fun run of songs. The mosh pit included some appropriate and not-so-appropriate attire compromising a purple mohawk leading the ranks and the 90s grunge plaid shirts falling way behind. At a punk show in 2015, why are you stuck in 1992? Regardless, it was a very entertaining experience and better late than never to see how simple yet remarkable The Damned classics sound live. ‘New Rose’ of course won the crowd-goes-wild reward as if they never wrote any other hits which couldn’t be further from the truth. ‘Love Song’ and ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ were some favorites of mine. Though not the usual rock n’ roll or metal show I’ve attended lately, this punk show was refreshing because it took me back to a time where technicalities didn’t matter so much and success was found in charm, character and simplicity. Not to mention, you don’t need a huge attention span to get through songs averaging 2 minutes in length in the world of punk. Worth a mention is the keyboardist who actually played his keyboard on stage which really makes the quality turn up when you aren’t bombarded by cheesy backing tracks. The greatest quality of The Damned, however, is that their influence can be seen in a broad range of rock n’ roll and even goth metal bands to this day. Since this was my only experience of The Damned live I’m in no place to judge then versus now, yet with all aging bands you get that extra 30 years of experience which has yet to disappoint. In conclusion, no I do not wish The Damned were dead.
Set list:
01. Love Song
02. Machine Gun Etiquette
03. I Just Can’t Be Happy Today
04. Wait For The Blackout
05. Lively Arts
06. Silly Kids Games
07. History Of The World
08. 13th Floor Vendetta
09. Ignite
10. Stranger on the Town
11. Eloise (Barry Ryan cover)
12. Alone Again Or (Love cover)
13. New Rose
14. Neat Neat Neat
Encore:
15. The Last Time (The Rolling Stones cover)
16. Fan Club
17. Nasty
18. Disco Man
19. Smash It Up
Remaining US Tour Dates:
9/10 – Detroit MI @ Saint Andrews Hall
9/11 – Cincinnati OH @ Bogart’s
9/12 – Chicago IL @ Riotfest
9/13 – Chicago IL @ Double Door