No longer the angry young men, now more sedate and certainly slicker, the originals of vocalist David Vanian and the irrepressible Captain Sensible on guitar and vocals were joined by Monty Oxy Moron on keyboard, Patricia Morrison on bass and Pinch on drums. The Damned don't need to make the same statements as they did in their youth but surprisingly, their music has passed the test of time remarkably well. Treated with a new slickness and skill the songs sounded somehow fresh and exciting all over again - maybe even better than the originals even if some of the anger wasn't there. Vanian's voice was good, clear and strong. Sensible's guitar work was always precise, often clever and sometimes brilliant. Moron gave as good as he got on keys that filled out the sound majestically. Morrison's bass was pure pumping energy. Pinch just never stopped - an excellent exhibition of energetic and fine drumming.
The warm Worcester evening was turned into a dripping wet, sauna of a night in the Marr's Bar. All the old but slightly newly handled favourites were included in the set. The crowd was never still - bobbing and pogoing with a slightly gereatric stiffness. A great night ensued that saw scores of locals turned away from the closed doors - I'm sure the numbers could have doubled if space was available - nice to see Worcester react - even at £20 a ticket.
It was strange though to see those ageing punks in the audience still throwing drinks and glasses around - maybe old habits die hard!! It seemed that the younger, first time members of the throng were actually behaving better than their elders - strange - but true!!
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