The UK’s original punk band, The Damned, celebrate their 50th Anniversary with their biggest home soil gig at London’s OVO Arena Wembley.
The Damned
OVO Arena Wembley – 11 April 2026
Words: Robert Adams
Photography: Manuela Langotsch
It is a heartwarming sight to behold as MetalTalk take our seats in Wembley Arena for The Damned’s 50th Anniversary celebration. The arena is not quite sold out, but it is a very healthy crowd that has gathered to celebrate along with them.
I estimate around 10,000 are here tonight, and everyone leaves spellbound at the end of what we have witnessed.
The stage is huge with a massive video screen behind Rat Scabies’ drum kit and two smaller screens on either side. The house lights go down, and the central screen flickers to life with the old 1930’s Universal Films logo, though it is The Damned that circles the black-and-white globe before the introduction is made in proper old-school horror-movie style.
Street Of Dreams, from their wonderful gothic rock masterpiece Phantasmagoria, opens proceedings, with Dave Vanian looking every inch like Frederic March’s Dr Henry Jekyll from the 1931 movie.
All in black, with a black fedora, Vanian looks as dapper as the good doctor. Scenes from the movie play on the screens as the band plays.
Captain Sensible, stage right in his customary red and white hooped jumper, red beret and white framed sunglasses, wrings beautiful chords and fluid leads from his trusty Gibson SG.
Paul Grey is stage left in a black beret and holds down the bottom end with his customary Fender Mustang and Rickenbacker basses.
Monty Oxymoron is behind Grey on keyboards with Rat Scabies attacking his small drum kit with a venom that belies his age.
50 years in and The Damned sound better than ever. Although they were the first UK punk band to release a single, an album and tour the USA, The Damned are, at heart, a psychedelic and gothic rock band.
We get three songs from The Black Album next, Wait For The Blackout, The History Of The World (Part 1) and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde that beautifully showcase The Damned’s mastery of psychedelica.
Stranger On The Town and the Syd Barrett-inspired Under The Floor Again continue the trippy vibes before their wonderful version of Barry Ryan’s Eloise.
Vanian points out to the crowd that Su Pollard from the early ’80s UK sitcom Hi-de-Hi kept the band off the #1 spot on the UK singles chart with Starting Together. Upon later investigation, The Damned were #3 with Eloise, and Su Pollard was #2.
Wake The Dead precedes the glorious I Just Can’t Be Happy Today, before we get Life Goes On and Is It A Dream.
The Captain says, “Wembley Arena! It’s just a big concrete shit box. I prefer the Hope And Anchor. Why don’t we Smash It Up?”
The intermission follows, complete with the old Pearl And Dean jingle and ’70s and ’80s adverts being shown on the big screens.
The Damned return with wardrobe changes from Vanian, with a large collared white shirt replacing the black, and the Captain sporting a sparkly disco-inspired shirt.
Nasty and Love Song is the perfect one-two to kick off the second set before the psychedelica returns with Machine Gun Etiquette. Fan Club leads into the rather apt Disco Man, complete with disco song ad libs from Vanian.
Ignite and Neat Neat Neat race us towards the finish line.
What follows next tells you all you need to know about The Damned. Their psychedelic masterpiece, Curtain Call, leads into a Rat Scabies drum solo before ending the evening back where they started with a rousing version of the first-ever punk single, New Rose.
What also needs mentioning is Captain Sensible and Paul Gray’s amps. Just one amp on top of its case for the Captain and two small Orange bass amps for Gray.
Not for The Damned is a wall of Marshalls. That small rig was more than capable of filling Wembley Arena. It was loud and crystal clear.
The Damned celebrated their 50th Anniversary in style and sounded wonderful. If anything, Dave Vanian’s voice gets better with age.
