The Damned Things at The Borderline

The Damned Things – The Borderline – 10 June 2010

Words by Brendan Monteiro / Photo’s by Marcus Maschwitz

A relatively fun question to ask any muso, what would your supergroup be made of? It’s a question I myself have been asked and upon thinking came up with this fantasy supergroup called Sore-Throat Vengence; On drums I would have Ryan Richards (FFAF), Ed Breckenridge (Thrice) on bass, Matt Tuck (B4MV) and Dallas Green (AOF) on guitars , Vocals and lyrics would be a collaboration between Matt Skiba (Ak3) Kieth Buckley (ETID) Tim McIlrath (Rise Against) and Dustin Kensrue. I would also put Elton John on keys purely for publicity reasons. The chances of my fantasy supergroup every coming to light was shattered a few weeks back with the announcement of The Damned Things, a mix and mash of members from Fall Out Boy, Anthrax and Every Time I Die.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and The Damned Things are a few hours away from playing what will be there fourth show together ever, although it might be downgraded from Heaven to The Borderline the excitement is starting to flood my emotions.

Panic Cell have been given the task of warming up the crowd tonight and they do an amazing job of it, although the start might be a little slow but once they get into a stride there is no stopping them. They have a little bit of everything strapped into their sound, screaming solo’s with big chunky riffs and songs that twist and turn is so many different directions. Their new material is what really stands out for me, Splitting Skulls and Burdened Inside are are rough to the core while at the same time oozing melody.
Luke and the guys really seem to enjoy every minute of their time on stage and interact with the crowd on a more sincere level and the whole night feels more like a jam for old friends, with a bottle of Jager shared around for good measure. They end the night with a phenomenal cover of Seal’s Crazy, this being one of the best covers I have seen in a very long time.

After Panic Cell finish they spend some time up on stage chatting with the audience, sharing drinks and stories and just generally being really down to earth good guys.

There’s some weird trippy euphoric music that builds the suspence for the headliners, it’s like interlude music from a thriller just as the killer is about to jump out, and first man out on stage is Josh Newton on bass. He’s closely followed by Andy Hurley, Joe Trohman, Scott Ian, Rob Caggiano and finally Mr Keith Buckley. As the siren dies down they waste no time and get the party started with Irioniclast, not many people can possibly know their material too well but the reception is remarkable.

To sum The Damned Things sound up is no easy task, their sound may not be something new but it is definitely original and fresh, each member seems to bring what they love to the game and the fusion of all their interests and influences sit so well together, they have this amazing way of embellishing all of it. Although their sound does lean more towards the Every Time I Die fans it is in no way the same, Keith exhumes a lot more melody into his vocals while the guitar work is in your face with mad solo’s big ballsy riffs that leave you with no option but to get your feet moving and your head rocking. The fact that they have three guitarists lends them the opportunity to really run wild with the solo’s but still drive the chugging tones behind them.

One thing that really suprised me was how powerful Andy’s drumming was, I never realised it in the two times I saw Fall Out Boy but tonight it’s right in your face and impossible to miss. He is so solid throughout the night and even though his kit only consists of a snare, one tom, floor tom, bass, hi hat and two cymbals; he still belts out some insane rhythms and really drives a lot of groove into the songs. I think that the overwhelming feeling that I get from these guys is it’s music with a tonne of personality, lots of groove and all in all just proper rugged, balls to the walls rock. It’s the soundtrack to a debaucherous night out on the town where you end up sleeping outside your own front door.

I don’t think I have had so much anticipation for a new band like this before, from hardly knowing a thing about them to being borderline obsessed. All their songs were out of this world for me with Ironiclast, Excellent Time, Bad Blood, A Great Reckoning (especially when Keith was fanning Joe Trohman down during another smoking hot solo), Handbook,
Black Heart, Fazer (Quicksand Cover), Graverobber, and We’ve Got A Situation being particular stand out tracks.

Although majority of the people here are just too skint for download, by the end of the night the realisation of how special this show hit’s me and I would easily miss ACDC for it again and again and again. Screw everyone’s supergroup fantasy, The Damned Things is the only one you should be looking at!