| The Defects The Mandela Hall Belfast. 26th May 2012 The Punk Week starts here! Only one show in town tonight and that’s The Damned and The Defects live at the Mandela Hall (poster by '$$') Thursday Night:The big one! 'Good Vibrations' Film Premiere at The Ulster Hall (see film review here) followed by the after parties in the 'Black Box', The 'Oh Yeah!' & The Hudson Bar. Friday Night: Stay in and recover while watching Punk Britannia on BBC4. So on with the show, I had sky high expectations for this gig as I couldn't wait to hear the amphetamine fueled punk rock classic album 'Damned Damned Damned', which I had received as a birthday present when I was a very young punk in 1977. This album was a permanent fixture on my turntable back then, so being played live and in its entirety (or so I thought). It was all going to happen in the venue where I attended my first punk gig a scary 34 years ago, which was then known as the 'McMordie Hall'. The night had actually started off well as we met Captain Sensible on our way into the hall and he happily posed (but not before he put on his sunglasses) for a picture with my son Steven, he also signed an autograph as 'Captain Birdseye' lol. Unfortunately Damned wise it was all virtually downhill from there, so wasn't it lucky for us we had The Defects. I don't think there is anything-else I can say about the Defects or anymore plaudits I can throw their way as I've reviewed them so many times since they reformed for the first time back in 2003. They just seem to get better and better. This was the first show of a double header tonight for the hardest working man in punk Ian (Buck) Murdock, he had another headline gig with his ska band Doghouse to play in the Spring & Airbrake immediately after this support slot. Where does a man of his advanced years get the energy? Lol (he knows i'm only joking). Needless to say The Defects were on fire and their relentless regime of non-stop gigging has made them untouchable live. A message to the people of Australia '"there’s a punk rock storm coming your way", batten down the hatches! The Damned turned out to be a massive disappointment for me, the setlist was a mess and it was clear to see from the off they were just going through the motions. There was virtually no interaction all night between Vanian and the audience, where was their punk attitude? This was end of the pier showbiz. It was the lure and promise of hearing ‘Damned Damned Damned' in its entirety that was my raison d'etre for being here, plus the fact that my son Steven had never seen them live before last nights gig also contributed. He enjoyed the few proper punk tunes played, which included a lacklustre 'endition of 'New Rose'. Pretty good versions of ‘Neat Neat Neat’, ‘Stretcher Case baby’ and ‘Fan Club' were performed. Although 'Love Song' (a personal fave) was ruined for me by Vanian’s scattergun vocals. We walked out before the end of the gig even though I knew 'Smash It Up' was still to come, because frankly we were bored rigid by the terrible song selection and Sensible's rambling unfunny comedy routine. As well as the band’s psychedelic meandering, turgid guitar solo's and rinky dink keyboards. I've seen The Damned enough times over the many years to know they can be so much better than this. I'll never go to see them live again unless the reunited James and Scabies who are playing the older incendiary stuff live and raw again come back into the fold, which lets be honest is highly unlikely. It's been a long time coming, but I think I've finally learnt my lesson now! The Defects triumphed, but The Damned were disappointing and well past their prime (I wasn't the only one with this opinion). Thank god for the goth themed 'Cornucopia' after party. Great tunes from Killing Joke, Sisters of Mercy, Buzzcocks, Soft Cell, The Cure, Ramones etc and the cheap 3 for 5 alcohol which helped erase the memory of an unexpected bad show. WORDS AND PHOTOS - Joe Donnelly - Belfast 27th May 2012 |
| (A very similar recent Damned Setlist). Wait for the Blackout Lively Arts Silly Kids Games I Just Can't Be Happy Today New Rose Limit Club Dozen Girls Stretcher Case Under the Floor Again Love Song Neat Neat Neat Plan 9 Channel 7 Shadow of love History Of The World (Part 1) Fan Club Ignite Encore 1: Curtain Call Eloise Anti Pope Encore 2: Alone Again Or Generals Smash It Up, Parts 1&2 |