Just out in time for Halloween is this live show from The Damned, recorded in 2019. The live album is accompanied by a feature-length video with some lovely production. More than just a video of a run-of-the-mill gig, The Damned really pulled out the stops for the performance itself as well as this DVD release.
The intro is great, wrapped up like a classic Universal Horror film with grainy black and white footage and piano music. It focuses as much on the crowd outside the venue as it does on the impressive parade put on to entertain them. Impressive showmanship leading up to a 90-minute live show which reminds me a bit of Bruce Dickinson’s “last” gig in Maiden before Blaze took over.
The stage show itself is atmospheric and littered with little Halloween touches. The band themselves are dressed for the occasion (vampires and so on) with some a backdrop showing off classic horror performers. In addition to the music, there are little offshoot performances. Suitably creepy ventriloquist dolls, dancers, acrobats, shock horror and all of it wrapped around the songs themselves.
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There really isn’t a dull moment as the band plough through their back catalogue. They themselves aren’t exactly fast-paced (not a dig, I’m almost 50 myself), but this works with the atmosphere. The spectacular elements are brought courtesy of the numerous extras who add so much to the show.
As someone who’s not familiar with The Damned’s musical output, this is a show I would have paid to see when it was on and left feeling that I’d been thoroughly entertained for the evening. It’s not a gig, it’s a spectacle and it’s been captured very well indeed for this release.
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The Damned Original Line-Up Tour starts in London this week, also coming to Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham. For tickets visit officialdamned.com
A Night of A Thousand Vampires is out now
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