[DID NOT ATTEND: October 24, 2026] The Damned / Flaming Groovies / The Courettes
I saw the Damned at Coney Island High with my friend Garry on Feb 6, 1998. I don’t really remember all that much about it. I wasn’t a huge fan at the time, but I do think it’s cool I got to see them. I hadn’t really considered seeing them again, but I decided to see them last year and they were great! The tour was a kind of complete retrospective (including some of the new songs too).
And, it featured three of the four original members: singer Dave Vanian, guitarist Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. [There’s no point in trying to talk about when who was or wasn’t in the band as it was a revolving door for a while]. But Paul Gray on bass has been with them since 1980 and Monty Oxymoron has played keyboards with them since 1996 so he’s not exactly a newbie.
When they announced this new tour I definitely wanted to go again, but I already had tickets to see Friko and then I wound up getting tickets to see Cradle of Filth, so there was no way this was going to happen. Apparently, this is their last tour, so I guess I’ll never see them again. But I’m glad I saw them last year.
When I saw that the opening band was The Flaming Groovies, I did a double take. I recognized the name, but couldn’t really place them. That’s because they formed in 1965 (years before I was born). Their debut has been described as proto-punk with one critic suggesting that the Ramones probably wore out copies of the album. I suppose that’s true, kind of, but they are really more of a blues band. And then, they also wrote Shake Some Action–the Cracker version is better because of the way the Groovies’ album was recorded (as if under a thick blanket). They’re not as punk as that reviewer made it seem, but there’s some cool garage flair. I wonder how they sound (checks calendar) 61 years after their debut!.
The Courettes are from Denmark and are the duo of Flavia Couri (from Brazil) and Martin Couri (a native Dane) [they are married, it’s not a Ramones type name]. They play old school rock n roll/girl group/garage stuff. Their recordings sound like they are from the 60s, which is a little annoying.
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