The Damned have been on my concert bucket list since high school and that's a long ass time. I first heard of them from a punk rock mixtape and the song was "Smash It Up." It was everything a teenager embodied. Actually, their music is just that. Pure fucking energy, angst, fun and just real musicianship. I think that is the reason why I love them the most. You just hear their catalog and it is simple. You cannot put them in a category. They have no rules and they do what they want. They are not a simple punk band, nor a gimmick. When I heard that they were coming to Indianapolis I just had to go. Who knows what the future holds and this may be the last time I get a chance to see them. I don't even know if they ever played Indianapolis in their career, but I'm glad they decided to this tour. They're celebrating the 40th anniversary of their classic album Damned Damned Damned, which ironically came out the same year I was born. So we were both celebrating 40 years of greatness! ha ha We took to the road and of course my curse with concerts came back; it's raining. No, not raining, there's a fucking tornado watch and thunderstorms. Of course I am on my way to see The Damned, so I guess the weather is appropriate. I was hoping to get into town earlier because I had heard about Captain Sensible roaming about town before gigs, but my schedule was not in cooperation. I also was unable to score VIP tickets because the ticket site didn't even give you details about the tickets. I only found out about them after purchase on Facebook. I was still hoping that I'd possibly run into them after the show though. I was really holding onto to that. We beat the storm and finally arrive at the venue. We caught the opening bands and I was trying to patiently wait for The Damned to appear on stage. It' such a hard wait because you want to be courteous to the opening bands, but you just want to see your band take the stage. Finally they appear on stage with roars and whistles from the crowd. I was just inches away from Captain Sensible and the excitement was running through my body. The teenager was back to takeover just for the night. This was it, this is what I have been waiting for since I was 15. This moment right here. I put this moment up there with meeting Johnny Marr & Peter Hook. True class. True legends. They took to the stage and still brought the angst and the energy. Although the stage presence was still there, Captain was nursing a sore back, but it didn't affect his guitar playing whatsoever. In my opinion, he is one of the most underrated guitarist. He's up there with all the greats. These weren't guys hanging about the stage like curtains. They gave you a show and they gave you their comedic banter between songs, which was fantastic. I love that because you can tell they love what they do and they're still having fun playing together. Captain having trouble with his guitar asked the crowd if he was out of tune and if there were any guitar players in the crowd. He played a few chords and asked again if he was out of tune. This is what I love. They don't care, they have been there and done that. There is no ego. They lay it all out there. I love when musicians can be real and are down to Earth and can have fun. They don't take themselves too serious. At one point Captain looking in my direction said "Hello!" and Dave did the same thing. Now I know the fan girl in me is thinking "Is he saying this to me? Did they see my tweets or comments on Facebook about seeing them and wanting to meet them?" I'm sure they were saying it to someone else, but I'll keep it in my fantasy land mind that they said it to me. Of course, the Captain has my Mom's maiden name so maybe somewhere along the family line we're related, eh? That would be pretty funny really. They played all their popular songs and really I don't think anyone could be too mad about them not playing certain songs. I guess I'm pulling from the Morrissey fan base that always has something to say about his set list with moans and groans. I would have liked to have heard their version of "White Rabbit" or "Life Goes On", but like I said I can't complain. After their set they came back shortly after an did an encore. They played a few songs and thanked everyone for coming and I thought it was all done, but moments later they come back to the stage! We are going on almost two hours of being on stage giving everything they have. I know we were in amazement. I've seen some twenty year old musicians leave the stage after an hour. The honorable Captain just celebrated his 63rd birthday the other day! When you think about bands that have been around for decades many think they should just hang it up. Yes, they aren't bashing up drum sets and aren't flying about stage, but they put on one hell of a show and you won't be disappointed. They finally had their fill for the night and said goodnight to Indianapolis. Captain presented his guitar to the front of the crowd to touch and fawn over. It was close to midnight and it was time to unfortunately call it a night. I wanted to stick around to see if I could possibly meet Dave and the Captain, but it was not in my cards. Thank you to The Damned for coming to Indianapolis and fulfilling all of my expectations and more.
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AuthorAngela Marie. I like writing. I like music. I have thoughts falling from my head. Archives
July 2018
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