The good old Damned

Yesterday true pioneers of the London punk scene played in the Patronaat in Haarlem. The Damned claim to be the first. They released the first UK punk single, "New Rose", the first UK punk album, "Damned Damned Damned", and were the first British punks to tour the United States. The band  released a new film and album, 'A Night of Thousand Vampires'.

The current members of the Dammed are Dave Vanian (vocals). Captain Sensible (Raymond Ian Burns. Guitar), Paul Gray (bass), Will Taylor (drums) and Monty Oxymoron (keyboards). After they reformed in 1996, the latter replaced Dave Grunfeld, who admired his former band from the first row of the crowd. 

As a comparison, you have to watch this (1986) ....  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB_Mtai6Klc

The Damned play a punk influenced by psychedelic and garage rock and epic pop songs. Their dark lyrics and Dave Vanian's rich baritone vocals catapulted The Damned to the forefront of the Goth-Rock genre. 

and here a more current version (2018)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txnXN-8E_Bs

Support was by the Smalltown Tigers, a punk band from Rimini, Italy. The three girls raised the heat in the venue populated by the mainly male elderly fans of the Damned

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Damned

https://patronaat.nl/event/the-damned-05-03-23/

The Voice; Pavlov's dog

End of the seventies, begin of eitghties, Pavlov's Dog was one of my favorite bands. My then girlfriend was driven mad when songs like Julia blasted through our little appartment at top amplifier capacity again and again. The force of voice was fascinating. In the times before internet nobody really knew whether this was a male or a female. 

But eventually I forgot about them, even though piles of the first two famous records Pampered Menial (1975) and At the Sound of the Bell (1976) kept popping up as CD's in stores again and again. 

At that time the band was composed of vocalist David Surkamp (the voice), guitarist Steve Levin, tom Nickeson or Steve Scorfina, keyboardists David Hamilton and Doug Rayburn, bassist Rick Stockton, drummer Mike Safron, Bill Bruford or Kirk SarkasianBill Bruford, and violinist Siegfried Carver (born Richard Nadler). However, the band dissolved quickly in 1977.

Stranglely enough the splitting of the band was hastened by th poor success of the albums. That could not have been or because of my enthousiasm. 

The band reformed and reunited frequently, such as in 1990 and 2004. Many of the original members died prematurely: Siegfried Carver died on May 30, 2009 only 60 years old, Doug Rayburn on September 21, 2012 and Rick Stockton  on February 17, 2015.

The current members are: David Surkamp - vocals, guitar (1972–1977, 1990, 2004, 2005–present), Manfred Plötz - drums (2015–present), Abbie (Hainz) Steiling - violin, mandolin (2008-present), Amanda McCoy - lead guitar (2013-present), 

Rick Steiling - bass (2009, 2011-present), 

Nathan Jatcko - keyboards (2015-present) and David's Sara Surkamp - vocals, guitar (2005-present).

Pavlov's dog played in the little hall of the Paard. Unfortunately the venue seemed to be unable to cope with the magnitude of Surkamp's still powerful voice. At least in front of the stage he could sometimes barely be distinguihsed from the background of the instruments. That does not reduce the impression this band left to the audience and the voice could still be acknowledged in a couple of inreleased solo songs presented by David Surkamp.

Goings on in May and after

Paard van Troje

Wed 10.05.2017  Fischer Z celebrates 40 years
Thu  11.05.2017  Fred Eaglesmith, rockabilly and entertainer
Thu  25.05.2017  Rats on raft and de Kift, famous dutch bands called Punk by the Paard
Fri    08.06.2017  Lucy Woodward, jazzy singer

Tivoli Utrecht

Sat    06.05.2017  Tom Walker, a fine songwriter
Tue   16.05.2017   Spinvis for who missed their concert in the koninklijke schouwburg
Fri    19.05.2017   Kris Berry, see the same blog below
         21./22.05.2017   Agnes Obel, just wanted to remind that Mike's foot hurt much in this one...
Thu   25.05.2017   DAAU, Die anarchistische Abendunterhaltung, promises to be interesting inventive music

Rotown Rotterdam

Sun    07.05.2017   Orchestra Baobab in Lantaren/Venster
Fri     19.05.2017   The cosmic Carnaval
Fri     02.06.2017   Julia Byrnes


 
 

December 2015: The crossing border festival

The crossing border festival is my highlight of the festivals in the hague in autumn. Designed as a  blend of music and literature, the musical performances seem to get much more attention.

Mike's favorite, Bianca Casady, designs a mysterious and suggestive parallel world starting from an untuned piano, a dusty typewriter and stacks of poems.

The project is a sythesis of the band with a metamorphic dancer and video. It had its premiere in Hamburg, and was also performed in London and at the Ruhr Triennale

My favorite were the british Kitty, Daisy and Lewis from Durham:

They present a veried potpourri of blues, country, and rock and roll.

They have performed at live shows at many famous festivals like Glastonbury, Lowlands, Rock Am Ring, and as an opening act for Coldplay, to just name a few.

They are all multi instumentalists playing guitar, piano, banjo, lapsteel guitar, harmonica, double bass, ukulele, drums, trombone, xylophone and accordion between them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDoDQTIwyig

Another of my favorites, Samantha Crain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cssvT1W4c8

 

A descendent of Coctaw Indians from Oklahoma, she might have been labled a protest singer in the time when there still were protest singers.

The highlight of the literature part was Ryan Gattis. He read from his latest novel  All Involved. It is based on the riots in Los Angeles in 1992. The reading was accompanied by music of Stef van Es

Bewilder, a dutch band which tries the bridge from country and folk with Indie riffs.

and their guitarist

The guitarist of the babe rainbow from Austalia...

Their debut album is to be released next year

Coming up:

PAARD, Den Haag
FRI, 8.1.          CORB LUND, country-rock from Canada
WED, 20.1.     SASS JORDAN, canadian rock diva, "as if Tina Turner and Janis Joplin walked
                        together..."
FRI, 29.1.       RESERVOIR DOGS BANG BANG, Spaghetti western rock
THU, 11.2.      KING OF THE WORLD, dutch blues by well known faces
SAT, 20.2.       MALA VIDA,  Dutch south european rock
FRI, 26.2.        MARINA & THE DIAMONDS, one of Mike's all time favorites

TIVOLI, Utrecht
SUN, 31.1.     PATTI GRIFFIN, a great voice
SUN, 28.2.     CANTECA DE MACAO, a light version of the Gipsy Kings
WED, 2.3.      FRED EAGLESMITH, folk from Canada

ROTOWN, Rotterdam
SUN, 24.1.     HIDDEN CHARMS, i would not say it sounds like the kinks, but....
SAT, 30.1.      MAISON DE MALHEUR, V11, finest blues rock

PARADISO, Amsterdam
MON, 11.1.    WISHBONE ASH, legendary british rock band

MELKWEG, Amsterdam
THU, 14.1.     ZITA SWOON GROUP, belgian pop
SUN, 14.2.     TONIGHT ALIVE, Punk pop
SUN, 6.3.      10CC, well known

November 2015: Patty Smith

The highlight of October. Patti Smith, 69 years, on the replay of "Horses", he first album recorded in 1975. 

Since 1974, when she founded her band, the guitarist, bassist and rock archivist Lenny Kaye.

Patti Smith was a fusion of poetry and music, the origin of the punk movement and, with her book 'just kids'of her time with Robert Mapplethorpe, also a prize winning writer.

On January 23, 1977, while touring in support of Radio Ethiopia, her second album Patti Smith accidentally danced off a high stage in Tampa, Florida, and fell 15 feet into a concrete orchestra pit, breaking several neck vertebrae. The injury required a period of rest and an intensive round of physical therapy, during which time she was able to reassess, re-energize and reorganize her life. Patti Smith Group produced two further albums before the end of the 1970s.

Even with that, and now being 69, she is still full of energy, and a clearly outspoken message.

 

oday she tours with her son Jackson, of her marriage with Fred Sonic Smith

Other band members today are Jay Dee Daugherty on drums and Tony Shanahan on Bass. 

PAARD DEN HAAG

WED 2.12.        Shantal and Bucovina Club Orchestra, eastern european paprika sound
FRI 4.12.           The sleaze express tour with The Deaf, ZZZ and Green Hornet
SUN 5.12.         Julie Scott, frequently compared to Jeff Buckley en PJ Harvey.
FRI 18.12.         Sabrina Starke, a strong beautiful soul voice
FRI 18.12          La Pegatina, latino rock from Spain

PARADISO AMSTERDAM

TUE 24.11.        The Cinematic Orchestra
THU 9.12.          K's choice
FRI 10.-12.12     De Dijk
THU 16.-17.12.  Blof

MELKWEG AMSTERDAM

SUN 22.11.        Kacey Musgraves, coutries finest
FRI 11.12.         Masmo Park
SUN 20.12.       New Model Army, actie since 35 years
SUN 6.3.2016   10CC

ROTTERDAM TOTOWN

MON 7.12.       K's choice
THU 17.12.      De Kift, not to be missed, in the Paradijskerk
SAT 30.1.2016 Maions du Malheur, not to be missed, Tom Waits blues, Location VII

TIVOLI UTRECHT

MON 30.11.      Golden Earring
TUE 1.12.         Texas
TUE 1.12.         K's choice, fresh rock from Belgium
WED 2.12.        Whitensake, the famous old rockers
THU. 4.12.        Bombino, from Niger, the Jimi Hendrix of the desert
SUN 6.12.         Sophie Hunger
WED 9.12.        De Dijk
FRI 18.12          The Nits, 40 years of Dutch Rock
WED 23.12.       Ben Kaplan and the Casual Smokers, crazy mix of writer, country singer and rock
WED 30.12.       Jaya The Cat, dirty drunk reggae