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Nearly 50 years ago, at London’s infamous 100 Club, The Damned played their first gig.
They were there to support some mates who had started a group called the Sex Pistols. History was made.
With a melodious but still utterly anarchic sound and a stage presence like nothing the audience had seen, they fired the opening shots in the war punk rock was about to wage on the music establishment.
Damned if he does: Ian ‘Captain Sensible’ Burns performing in New Zealand last year.Credit: Dave Simpson/WireImage
And yes, The Damned’s guitarist Raymond Burns, better known as Captain Sensible, says it was as much fun as it looked.
“Back then, big bands like ELO, The Who and Eric Clapton were playing big stadiums and we were playing little pubs to about 30 or 40 people,” Burns says from his home in Portugal as he prepares to head back out on tour.
“For some reason or other – I suppose maybe it was because people were getting bored with seeing what must have looked like ants on a stage from a distance – getting up close to a band in a small venue was a kind of magic for the audience, and they kept coming.”
Ian Burns aka Captain Sensible at home in the early 1980s.Credit:
Audience participation, something the ironically nicknamed Sensible (“I’m not sensible at all,” he admits, “I’m up for the craic, basically”) has always encouraged, could take the gigs down what he calls “a fun route”, like the time he invited the crowd on the stage, only to watch them walk out with all the band’s gear. But that was punk, he laughs.
“There must be an element of danger to making music, it’s what makes it so special,” he says. “If every show was the same as the last one it’d be an absolute drag for the audience and the band.