The Damned and the Avengers: True Confessons, plus RIP Grant Shankaruk

There are bands that I "do wrong," you know? Where my opinions are not the popular ones. Wrong (see previous post) is not my favourite Nomeansno album by a long shot. The first few Ramones albums, the ones that are kept in print and are considered essential, do very little for me -- the lyrics are kinda dumb, the song structures simple, and there's way too much that is musically same-same; give me Howling at the Moon and Animal Boy any day. And as for the Damned...

Look, don't hate me, but I have never entirely gotten some really classic punk bands, y'know? I kind of alluded to this previously when I was bitching a few weeks ago about watching Danny of the Spores cover Stiff Little Fingers or the Stranglers; I prefer the Spores to either of those bands!!! (And to the Damned, too, Danny; sorry! I know you love the Damned -- nice to see ya last night -- and I know that it is wrong of me to think/ say/ feel this, but YOUR LYRICS ARE WITTIER THAN ANY OF THE ONES THE DAMNED EVER WROTE. I don't think the Damned have ever made me want to sit down with a lyric sheet, y'know? I like witty wordplay with a window on the world, and will take "House of Frankenstein" over "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" any day, even if the former wouldn't exist without the latter). In no way am I saying the Spores are more important than these bands, but importance is relative where a band sits in musical history: like, the Sex Pistols are more important than the Fall, but I'd rather listen to the Fall, y'see? And then you add personal tastes to the mix and I'd generally prefer the New Model Army to either of those bands (because of the lyrics). 

The green mist as the Damned's set begins, photo by me

And though some people do not get this, personal tastes are allowed to be personal (It's why I'm still Facebook friends with Ferdy Belland despite his not thinking much of the Clash, and his insisting I listen to Rush and Budgie. I mean, no thanks, Ferdy, but on the other hand, who wants to live in an echo chamber?).

And as important as they are, I very seldom listen to the Damned. Truth is, there's only one Damned record that I love, and that's Damned Damned Damned. There are also a couple of individual songs I dig, especially "Wait for the Blackout" or "Love Song," but they're on albums that are a bit less "even." I have owned AND SOLD in my day vinyl of Music for Pleasure, Machine Gun Etiquette, The Black Album, and Strawberries -- and unless I still have a CD of Machine Gun Etiquette tucked away somewhere -- I don't even know for sure! -- the Damned in my collection is now (I believe) solely represented by Damned Damned Damned and Phantasmagoria, both of which I have on CD only, having picked them up cheap. 

Oh, and I have a sampler that Danny made me of his favourite Damned songs. That's it! 

I remember buying The Black Album, in the less-appealing one-LP variant, as one of my first ever punk albums when I was 15 or so. I lived in Maple Ridge (once mis-heard by Penelope of the Avengers as "Pimple Ridge;" I'll get to that later. maybe). When I was 15, I would buy basically ANYTHING punk I could find, because -- in 1983, in Maple Ridge -- there wasn't much; punk rock records that were not on major labels were not IN the one record store in Maple Ridge, and I didn't KNOW where the good stores were in Vancouver (or go there very often). I was able to get Never Mind the Bollocks pretty quickly, and the Cramps' Psychedelic Jungle; but - thanks to my friend Greg - I was searching for the Dead Kennedys, DOA, and the Subhumans (the Vancouver band) for MONTHS before I found them. Two of them were Vancouver bands, but they weren't for sale at Kellys, which was the main shop I knew in the city, back then. I remember coming across In God We Trust Inc. and Triumph of the Ignoroids in a small record shop by Kootenay Loop (there's a story there, but skip it if you don't want a digression: I'd had my copy of the former damaged in the coat-check at the Coliseum so I wouldn't put my Ignoroids there when I went to see the Clash. and I'd seen how rowdy a mosh pit could get, having LOST MY SHOE in the pit at a Dead Kennedys show, so -- carrying my Ignoroids, only just purchased, for ten bucks, when I was on the way to the venue, I refused to leave our terrible seats up in the rafters and come down to the floor, despite Joe's urgings and teasings about those of us watching the band from afar. Heck with you, Joe: if people are moshing, I'm not bringing this record down there, do you know how hard this was to FIND?). 

...but despite being desperate for punk, I didn't much care about The Black Album, It was maybe the fifth punk record I stumbled across, and the first I was ever disappointed by. I knew (from Greg, who had read about punk rock in a BOOK!) that the Damned were one of the most important punk bands out there, and I even adored "Wait for the Blackout," but to my mind, THAT WAS THE ONLY GOOD SONG ON THE RECORD.

Or so I thought then; I haven't owned the album since I was a kid. It surely was one of the very first of my records I sold at Collector's RPM, which was the first "real" record store I found (see here) and the first reliable place I could get punk rock. Maybe it's time for me to reinvestigate it...?

Digression: Rob Frith posted that Grant Shankaruk died the other day. Grant was the friendliest guy at any of the early record stores I went to. He once taped me Iggy Pop's New Values when I couldn't find that album anywhere. When I was a kid, he was the only guy  I enjoyed chatting with at RPM, and then later the only guy I enjoyed chatting with at Track; as an adult, I have come to enjoy interacting with a couple of other employees of those stores (hi Phil, hi Dale) but Grant (and later Ty Scammell at the Flea Market, also RIP) was one of the only people who was actively nice to a know-nothing teenager from the suburbs. He didn't judge my ignorance. And he turned me onto lots of great records, I'm sure, though it was long enough ago that I don't recall which, exactly. I guess Grant hadn't been well -- I haven't seen him at a show since COVID, I don't think. Thanks to being nice to me when I had no clue, Grant. 

Grant Shankaruk by Rob Frith, I'm guessing

Anyhow, back to the Damned. I don't have much to say about last night's show! I spent a ton of it wandering the Commodore. I had previously caught the Avengers at the Rickshaw. (The "Pimple Ridge" story is included there. I reminded Penelope later at the merch table of it; by way of introducing "Desperation," she had -- unable to poll the Commodore audience as efficiently as the Rickshaw one -- used "Blaine" as last night's shitty small town, in place of "Maple Ridge," but no one was at the Commodore from Blaine!). I spent at least fifteen minutes on the merch experience, discovering that the Commodore is now back to allowing cash sales at the merch table, AFTER HAVING TAKEN OUT THEIR ATM; I wanted to buy the friend who got me into the show a t-shirt (thanks, Bob! Looks like I'm writing about it after all), so I had to ask the security staff to let me out so I could run down the street to take money out of one of those shitty stand-alone ATMs at the fucking bong shop on the corner (because, you know, you WANT to do your banking in bong shops, right?). Merch acquired, I shot, then accidentally deleted, some Avengers material last night, but missed my favourite song of theirs ("Uh Oh!") because Bev wanted me to hold her seat while she took photos, materializing just as that song ended. I got no decent photos of the band, so I'm bugging Bev (I will add a photo if she contributes one). 

The Avengers are another one of those historically epochal bands -- they opened for the Pistols at Winterland, along with the Nuns (with Alejandro Escovedo, who is playing Vancouver in July) -- who (don't hate me) I don't entirely go wild for. In fact, I gave my copy of the pink album to Gerry Hannah, a few years ago (he was very happy to receive it). They have six or seven great songs, by me (In order: "Uh-Oh!" "Cheap Tragedies," "We Are the One," "I Believe in Me" -- which they continue to dedicate to Joe Keithley when they play it here -- "The American in Me," "Desperation,"and maybe "Car Crash") and... well, look, they put on a good show, they're nice people, and, like I say, epochal historical importance, especially for a female-fronted band, but it's a bit of a slim catalogue, you know?

The Avengers by bev davies, June 14, 2024, not to be reused without permission

Which might leave some of you wondering: fuck, Al, why did you even go to the show last night? And the answer is very simple: Bob Hanham. He had family stuff, couldn't come, and gave me a ticket, which I insisted on paying for in the form of merch, because, you know, I had THOUGHT about seeing the show, if mostly just because I fucking love "Wait for the Blackout," and it's on their setlist. 

And "Neat Neat Neat." (Those wondering about the setlist, I believe it was the same as Seattle's setlist the other day). 

Boy am I glad I went!

The Damned by Allan MacInnis, not to be reused without permission

Here are my takeaways from the Damned's set. 

1. Goddamn, what a great live band. I still don't care about a lot of their songs and they didn't play very much off their first album -- but I was totally won over by Dave Vanian as frontman and Captain Sensible as prankster guitarist (and yay that Rat Scabies is back in the band -- I remember when I got The Black Album at age 15 or so that I absolutely loved his name -- because scabies were a thing in my elementary school! -- but now I love his drumming, too. He even whipped out something kinda rockabillyish for "Shadow of Love," which I wasn't expecting at all). I don't have any striking observations about Paul or Monty (bass-keyboards), but Vanian was suave, self-possessed, in fine voice, and quite tireless, through a very fullsome set. 

2.  Sometimes it takes a live performance to help you connect with a song. Last night's performance of "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" was spectacular. I don't remember really caring about it much previously! 

3. The band really, really understands how to structure a setlist. Kick off with a bang ("Ignite" and "Wait for the Blackout"), do deep cuts and new stuff for the body, then as you round the clubhouse turn, break out the show-stoppers. That happened with a one-two punch of "Love Song" and "Machine Gun Etiquette," AKA "Second Time Around," which I happened to catch on video. I'm not sure about the wisdom of playing "Curtain Call" before "New Rose," but in fact, duty called there (Bev wanted to leave early, and my wife, not present, tends to appreciate an early bedtime).  

4. When I bungled my vid for "Wait for the Blackout," I was happy enough to put my phone away and just bounce around to it for a bit (and "Neat Neat Neat," which I didn't even try to capture. I did, however, get vid of Bob's favourite Damned song, "Eloise." Ford Pier, meanwhile -- in the house last night, having returned from a successful Dead Bob jaunt into the USA -- offers on Facebook that this is his fave ("not that I was asked, but...") (he told me at Red Cat later that he was particularly partial to Strawberries, album-wise). 

5. Finally, what was really a surprise was, I like the Darkadelic stuff a lot ("Beware the Clown," "The Invisible Man"). Bev joked that one of the least favourite things she likes to hear at a storied band's show is "Here's a song off our new album," but... these are great! Sadly, the album appears to be at zero stores, locally. 

Also by me! All the rest of these are... 

I am still not the biggest Damned fan in the world, but there's no denying that that was a great show (thanks, Bob!). And I'm really glad Rat Scabies is back in the band and in such good form. Glad to see so many friends and fellow music fans in the audience! 

And now it's time for the first of the Rickshaw Anniversary shows! Come with Kristy-Lee a happy return from her tour with Dead Bob! See how well Emilor has recovered from her blossom-slipping mishap! See a RARE BLACK WIZARD REUNION! And see Bison again! Yay Bison!