The Damned’s 13 September performance at Melbourne’s Forum was a raucous celebration of punk’s enduring legacy, with The New Christs and US garage-punks The Darts setting the tone before the British veterans took the stage. Led by Rob Younger, The New Christs delivered their trademark garage rock assault, while The Darts brought a ferocious, high energy set that proved an ideal prelude to the evening’s main event.
When The Damned finally arrived, they brought with them the swagger, theatricality and sheer volume that have characterised the band across five decades. Their set moved seamlessly between the breakneck intensity of their early punk material and the darker, more atmospheric territory of their gothic rock years. Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian and the rest of the band attacked the material with evident relish, giving the performance a sense of immediacy that went beyond mere nostalgia.
For a band so deeply embedded in punk history, The Damned’s appeal on the night lay precisely in how alive that history felt. With three generations of underground rock culture represented on one stage, the packed Forum became less a shrine to punk’s past than a reminder of its continuing vitality.
Photographer David Harris was onboard to capture the excitement of the evening.
