The Damned.

WHITBY SPA-WGW-26-3-11


Greetings my dears & welcome to another blog by your old mate Flash Tightpocket.
  I always love attending these goth weekends in Whitby, it's full of beautiful, friendly people & I also consider it as a kind of spiritual home. My father once told me that I was conceived there on a dirty weekend. Hmmm, nice.
  Anyway; it was one of those rare occasions where I didn't have to drive home after the gig, so Mrs Tightpocket & me were allowed to cut loose a little & indulge ourselves in the old 'golden throat charmer'!
  It was also a chance to bump into some old friends; Jacqui & Johnny from the mighty 'Devilish Presley', Loopy Lorna, Chris Spooks, White Rabbit, with bread knife & ankle biter & my old mate & brother in arms from those halcyon days of 'Shake the Weasel,' Al & his mrs Jane.

 Now Al & me are veterans of many Damned gigs going back many years, but we're always in agreement that there's always a sense of occasion when they've played these weekends in Whitby.
 Tonight was no exception. In fact, when the Damned took to the stage at midnight, it soon became apparent that something was amiss, even worse, was someone missing?
 Where in fact, was the axe hero who can usually be seen on these occasions wearing a dress or a Fred Flintstone outfit?
 Then, after a double take & a sharp intake of breath, we realised that the good captain was indeed with us after all.

 Not only was he here larger than life, but it also seems that he'd been taking lessons in sartorial elegance from the ever dapper Mr D Vanian.
 Here was our hero bedecked, resplendent & cutting a bit of a dash in the garb of a Georgian dandy. Albeit minus the powdered wig & ornate walking cane.

  Having seen the Damned at three of these occasions in Whitby, It's also come to my attention that the usual manic hardcore of their support are noticeable by their abscence.
 Maybe it's no coincidence that the Damned seem to pick their set list accordingly. Choosing to play a selection of their, for want of a better way of putting it, more atmospheric numbers. Which is by no means lost on me. Street of dreams, Thrill kill, Plan 9 channel 7 & History of the world part 1, all sounded perfect in their delivery.

 You'll have to forgive me for not elaborating too much on the set list, but the copious amounts of lager I had ingested was now beginning to take its toll.
 I know this post may appear to be a little overloaded with shots of the enigmatic Dave Vanian, but what you have to understand dear reader, is that I have spent many years trying to get the perfect shot of him.Alas, all to no avail. I know these are by no means perfect, but they're the best I've managed so far.

  Now this fella never lets you down, always the snappy dresser, whenever he's on stage he always appears to have an aura about him. 
 As the years have gone by his voice has matured & achieved a richness usually associated with the likes of Sinatra & Matt Munro. Quite the crooner.
  Please feel free to correct me, but when I see him moving on stage, I'm drawn to those old Black & white films of Al Jolson. (Considered in his time to be the worlds greatest entertainer). This may be purely coincidence but I'll wager our hero's been taking a sneaky peek as well as taking a few notes.
( I'd love to hear 'em tackle a version of 'the spaniard that blighted my life).

 So there you have it boys & girls. 'The Damned'. Multi faceted, never boring & always thoroughly bloody entertaining & good value for money.

  Chin chin my dears.