The Damned played Paradise Rock Club – 5/24

U.K. punk veterans The Damned brought their 40th anniversary tour to the Paradise last week for a sold-out show with California quartet The Bellrays. 

The Damned are an anomaly in the world of punk. They’re the last of the first-wave U.K. bands still kicking, and four decades on, they’re still putting on the fiery live shows of a much younger band. Last week’s jam-packed Paradise show found the band – which still features founding members Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible – celebrating their sprawling legacy with evident joy. The band’s early punk jams (“Neat Neat Neat,” “Love Song,” etc.) naturally received the most enthusiastic crowd response, and were a primary focus of the set, but their latter period gothic rock leanings shined as well. Sensible recently suffered a fall that rescheduled a few dates of this anniversary tour, but judging by the sheer enthusiasm at work on stage, you’d never know it. Long live the youthful energy of some of the last original punks.

Openers The Bellrays channeled plenty of garage rock spark in a passionate set that demanded crowd engagement. We were reminded one (or ten) too many times that this was a “rock show” by singer Lisa Kekaula, but the band’s spirit was well-meaning.

Photos from both sets below.