TSOL and the Damned tonight in DC!!

[johnnotkathi]

Anyone going? John?

Wish I could make the Philly gig......

[lewdd]

I surprised we haven't seen a review of the Boston show last night from Earthdog. I thought he was going to it.

[john stabb]

Will put up a DC review soon as I'm not so exhausted but perhaps hunter or danny may beat me to it

[danny]

the briefs were great. reminded me a bit of early american punk in the vein of the dead boys, ramones, dickies, etc. lots of fun.

tsol? before the show, they were the band i was most looking forward to seeing. but the drummer and guitarist struggled. the songs didn't sound nearly as good as they did when we played with him in dc about 2 years ago. at the end of the day - they just seemed kind of pedestrian sandwiched between two bands that had better songs, better musicians and were more visually compelling.

as for the damned. when you see them live, and here all the "hits" played back-to-back it reminds you of what great songs they wrote over the decades. the set list was sprinkled heavily with all their great records (with the exception of music for pleasure - which is one of my personal faves). sensible is still every bit as funny and engaging as he was 35 years ago. maybe even more so. i know stab thought that vanian wasn't really bringing it - but i thought he was pretty good. certainly a bit more subdued. but he was channeling his inner vincent price - not a gothy vampire. and with price, comes a level of aloof dignity. so i had no problem with vanian. the drummer and bassist were really outstanding. as integral a part of the band as rat scabies was - nothing at all was lost with the guy behind the kit (forgive me for not knowing his name). the only sort of off thing was the keyboard player - who closely resembled danny devito as oswald cobblepot (the penguin). but he could play - and he did a good job on backing vocals.

all in all - a great night. if you have the chance to go...make sure you get there early for the briefs.

[JGJR]

You're making me wanna go though I would be a wreck at work the next day. Anyway, yeah when I saw TSOL open for FLAG last year, it was similarly pedestrian and as much as it pains me to say that since I love them, I have to agree with you.

I did see The Damned at the TLA in 2009 and the acoustics were bad enough that they pretty much ruined the show.

[earthdog70]

Here is my take on the Boston show:

http://sheamagazine.com/damned-live-roy ... ma-review/

[john stabb]

Ok, I'm ready for my review next, I guess. First & foremost: I'd just worked from Sunday 2:30 am - 6:30 pm @ Marine Corps Marathon event so on absolutely no sleep whatsoever I'm pretty amazed I was able to get to Black Cat that very evening on time to catch all 3 bands. Luckily my friend Stu West (bassist for THE DAMNED) got me + Meowgirl on his DAMNED list because it was a little pricey for either of us to manage right now. About $40. Got our drink on as soon as we hit the door & bam - The Briefs were on Barely had time to think so it was early about 7:30, I think. Like I said no sleep & all. The fairly new CA group was described to me by my friend, Mississippi Dave as a "band full of Sensibles" and at least one of the guitarists had that look. Funny that afterwards my same friend described them as looking more like "a band full of CC Devilles" They looked a bit older or maybe more partied out than before, I guess. But they had a certain Vibrators/Heartbreakers/Dickies/Buzzcocks circa "77 era punk thing happening for them. I thought they were a lot of fun and dug them live. The stuff I'd heard on a mix tape a few yrs back didn't rock my bones so maybe on record not-so-exciting Agree w/danny - check them out live. Very tight and much rather see them than many more much popular DC pop-rock darlings. And I think you know who I mean.

As danny described one of my all-time favorite groups, TSOL, seemed to have an off night. New just learning the songs fill-in drummer was not the great Anthony Tiny Busso who played recently w/ Jack Grisham's Lost Soul (which openers Dot Dash really blew Jack away that night). Sadly, the drummer seem to throw guitarist Ron Emory (who I've never seen have an off gig ever!) off his game. Jack is a master entertainer but seeing Brian & Ian standing in the VIP area off to Ron's side of stage looked thoroughly unimpressed. Jack was funny as usual and sang as great as usual but the drummer was a basher (reminding me of Grohl) which didn't fit their sound. Songs like "Sounds of laughter" have an almost tribal jungle-rythym in their drumming and he was nowhere near it. Meowgirl & I made our way up front to try motivating Jack to kick the band into shape but he never saw us. I hear this drummer plays on the new Joykiller record so hoping he sounds better on that. I truly hope they get Tiny back who's apparently playing with Doyle - yipes.

Just as danny, hunter and terry were trying to convince me to do a 1 man musical tribute of Mr. Ott (the crazy early DC Punk frontman of Whiteboy Spastic who just happened to get locked up for having child porn in his collection - shades of Gary Glitter. ) & my having no part of this idea whatsoever, THE DAMNED were up. As danny said, I felt critical of Vanian (but found out from Stu that Dave is just a shy withdrwan fella and can be really bothered by not hearing his vocals) so now I have a little more respect for the frontman. Stu also says "If you talk to him after a gig, he doesn't want to talk about his own band. He loves talking about motorbikes, old 60's Psychedelic music and classic horror films". I shall keep that in mind if I ever get the chance to speak to him. That may be a good tip for zine interviewers here. Still, I don't see him channeling Vincent Price's look. He comes across to me onstage looking more like a Gay, french, cat burglar. Thought his early Nosferatu look, and his Victorian look were his best but if he's into his new thing - let him enjoy it. Just keep your jewels away from Frenchy. Captain is always great & love hearing his stories even if at times (as J., Pete, and Tom used to do to me) the rest of the band cut him off by going into a song. Those bastards. Sensible tried to stir up the crowd by telling us how their Boston audience (looking at you, edog ) thought they could sing better than DC. Those bastards. HA And he did "Happy Talk" for them. Again- Those bastards. They were all in a playful mood, even Vanian. I've not heard songs like "Video Nasty" before so I was extra pleased. Wish they'd played more off SO, WHO'S PARANOID than just "A NATION FIT FOR HEROES" because it's a pretty great recording. A few brand new ones just didn't have the craftiness we're used to but they weren't bad. I truly wanted Piere Vanian to do some gothy deep voiced vocalizing but that really didn't happen till "Curtain Call" which they cut short, of course. I've yet to read edogs review so can't say if song list was the same yet. My bud Stu is a great bassist (and after hanging with him over drinks @ Meowists favorite DC joint + taking him to DC Punk Archives - another review in a few- he's a sweet bloke ) Pinch (x-ENGLISH DOGS) fits the group to a tee and (while not many can be Rat Scabies) tears up those drums the way they should be. And Monty may be a big goofball looking like Marty Feldman up there but the guy can play and is enthusiastic having a great time. Great fookin' nite.

[john stabb]

Monty's "enticing dance moves" You're far too kind on that and new drummer's playing, edog.

[earthdog70]

Nice review Stabby. Cool you got to see Stu again. He was in the audience at the Boston show for about 1 minute so I didn't get to say hi.

Tiny is definitely missed. Ron's guitar was muffled to start out with at the Boston show, but they tweaked it a bit as the set went on and it got better sound-wise. Yes, the new drummer was a bit heavy-handed but I gave him the benefit of the doubt Hope he doesn't bring down the new Joykiller release.

[captain2man]

Saw the show Halloween night in NYC.

Missed the Briefs, unfortunately.

I thought TSOL were excellent. I noticed they had a new drummer, but he must have gotten up to speed because he was solid all the way through. One genuine surprise on the set list was the song Beneath the Shadows. I've only ever seen them play Wash Away from that record. My friend Marc, who grew up in O.C. and knows Jack, got himself up front and shouted the song out. Jack pointed him out & said they were going to try it. It may not have been perfect, but it was fun to hear.

The Damned were awesome as always, except the Captain's guitar was WAYYYY too low in the mix for the first 75% of the show. But as someone said earlier, it's just song after song after song of greatness. Sounds like played a different set than in D.C., but I think they played virtually nothing from the last two albums, both of which are excellent.

[The Snake]

TSOL should fly me to US so I could play drums for them, ha ha.