Oliver and I went to Warsaw in Brooklyn, last night, to catch the first of two New York shows by The Damned (the second show, which we’re not going to, is this evening at Irving Plaza). At this stage of the proceedings, I’ve seen the Damned about three times prior to this (once somewhere in Kentucky on the Phantasmagoria tour, when I was in college … we drove from Ohio, once at the New Ritz on West 54th Street on the so-called Final Damnation tour in about 1989 and lastly at Coney Island High on St. Marks Place back in 1998). Having seen the original line-up on that Final Damnation stop (that being Dave Vanian, Captain Sensible, Brian James and the inimitable Rat Scabies), I might not have sprung for this show, but my son Oliver has really latched onto them, and quite enjoys their new album, Darkadelica, which I cannot say I am as familiar with.
In typical familial fashion, we got there early (both Oliver and I are pointedly punctual, whereas my wife and daughter are both fashionably late to absolutely everything), arriving at the newly restored and re-opened Warsaw on Driggs Avenue in Greenpoint – a former Polish community center turned high-decibel hotbed “where pierogis meet punk.”
Both opening bands were great – Brooklyn’s own Baby Shakes and Canada’s Fucked Up. The pierogis were not mind-blowing, but they got the job done. The capacity crowd was fired-up and the Damned were amazing. Vanian hasn’t looked or sounded this fit in ages. They played a huge amount of new stuff I didn’t know, but it was all great.
Oliver had a fantastic time. I have to say that, since Oliver’s gotten more and more into music, we’ve gotten to go to so many great shows together and it’s been so gratifying to see him derive the same amount of joy I’ve always gotten from my favorite music. He cannot get enough of it.
Enjoy the pics…
The Baby Shakes
Damian from Fucked Up...
The Damned...
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