The Damned. Féile an Earraigh.

I must confess that I am not at home to comfortable notions of nostalgia, particularly those stirred up by the recent and warmly welcomed success of the Good Vibrations film.

So with that in mind I approached the Damned as part of Féile an Earraigh with some trepidation. Sharing a bill with original Northern Ireland punk trailblazers the Outcasts and Terri Hooley, naturally leaves one as contrary as myself about our current "punk renaissance" a little curious as to how the Damned were going to approach this.

I firmly believe that the Damned are a woefully misunderstood band who simply cannot be described with any degree of accuracy as a punk band and judging by their output in recent years, place no stock in nostalgia either.

That being said, they are and always have been showmen so I was concerned that I might witness the band lazily trot out a bunch of punk standards in the bizarre setting of a circus tent on the site of the old Beechmount Leisure Centre just off the Falls Rd.

Thankfully my fears were unfounded and the band demonstrated their diversity and depth in a set more aligned to power pop than punk circa 1976

This was a not so gentle nod to their influences and the sounds that have shaped the band. Their cover of 60’s orchestral pop nugget Eloise sounding as fresh as it always has, with lead singer Vanian’s vocals sounding more lush and accomplished than they have in years. This and their cover of Alone Again Or by Love, which was beautiful and showcased a band with true pop sensibilities and musical intuition, replacing a horn section with a poppy, baroque vocal "ba, ba, ba" chorus.

Naturally the crowd pleasing singles from 'the punk years' were received with delight but one could see that the gig goers in tonight were more interested in hearing the band express themselves without the confines of the often conservative and restricting rules of punk rock; there’s irony in their somewhere.

A unique version of The History of the World Part 1 was a lesson in gothic electro prog-pop and the ear shatteringly catchy Disco Man showed the more playful and humorous side of the band.

Not a night for nostalgia lovers, but such folks had other, more comfortable, options that night closer to the city centre. And the less said about that unfortunate clash of events the better…

The evolution will not be televised, but for those who were in a circus tent in Beechmount, a band that transcend genre and expectation had something genuinely interesting to offer without resting on a single laurel.

Ryan Fitzsimmons.

The Damned, the Outcasts, Suckin’ Diesel and Terri Hooley played as part of Féile an Earraigh on 14/03/2014