After ten years of being a super group, The Damned Things finally hit the stage at the world famous Whisky A Go-Go. They kicked off their North American tour on May 1, 2019.
Who are The Damned Things and why are they a super group? What makes them a super group is simple. They are all well-known musicians from various successful bands that came together to create The Damned things.
This super group consists of Scott Ian from Anthrax, Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die, Joe Trohman from Fall Out Boy, Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy, and Dan Andriano from Slap Stick.
They all come from different backgrounds of music and have created a wonderful band that has a unique fun sound. But why have they been in hiatus for so long and when will we be hearing new music from them?
As far as new music goes, they just released a new album called High Crimes that came out recently on April 26th right before the tour began. Check out the ZRockR review of the album HERE .
The band themselves never broke up or drifted apart within the decade of being a band. They’ve stayed friends and bandmates this entire time but due to their obligations to their “home” bands, The Damned Things was put on the back burner. Their fan base stayed loyal and waited out the drought for some new music.
High Crimes hit the music charts and landed iTunes 25th spot. That’s extraordinary for a band that’s been “out” of the music scene for ten years. Their new album is phenomenal and fun. I think it’s their best album yet to date and I’m excited to see what the future has in store for them and us as listeners.
This band feels more like a group of friends on stage hanging out while the crowd is attending a house party with some banging live music. We had a lot of fun waiting for them to hit the stage at The Whisky A Go-Go.
Around 10pm the band was finally sneaking out of the green room and onto the stage.
The venue was packed on the bottom floor and top floor with fans of all ages roaring in excitement.
The band didn’t wait to introduce themselves and dove straight into the music.
At first fans kind of stood around due to how small the venue is. Keith Buckley quickly caught on to the mood and announced, “You guys can have fun! Move around! I know you want to mosh and get down! Get on the stage with me and enjoy your time!” But then security quickly ruined the party to remind everyone that if you dive you go home! Even though fans couldn’t dive off stage, it didn’t stop them from crowd surfing which was fun. Seconds after Buckley said to get loose I was launched into the stage wall and fans were moshing their hearts out behind me.
The band played the entirety of their new album and a few songs here and there from their previous album. Their new album had fans jumping up and down head bobbing to the beats while others sang along and had a good time. Who doesn’t have a good time when they go to the Whisky A Go-Go? It’s the freaking Whisky A Go-Go!
Scott Ian and Dan Andriano blew the crowd away numerous times with guitar solos. Buckley would back off and let his band mates shred center stage.
Scott Ian is notorious for his facial expressions on stage. Every time he shredded up his guitar he would make the silliest of faces that revved up the crowd even more. It’s a good show when the band knows how to get on stage and have fun. Buckley had a few moments where he would crouch down and sing low to the ground in the mic with these deep long screams that he’s known to make. The crowd ate up these moments and would fight to get to Buckley who would give out the occasional hand shake.
Mid show Buckley stopped to thank fans for coming out and sticking around for ten years. I personally feel like this might be their true start as a band and that we will be hearing about The Damned Things more often.
Buckley didn’t let a small venue ruin his fun between stoking the mic off and letting the fans sing into the mic. At one point he started playing the air guitar and I must say, it was the best air guitar playing I’ve ever seen! 10 out 10 for Buckley. He was really into it.
His vocals and the band sounded spot on to their albums. The fans went crazy as soon as “Something Good” came on. The fans overpowered the band as soon as they started chanting “Y-E-LL All Of My Friends Are Going To Hell”.
The band fed off this energy and went crazy on stage leaving me soaking wet due to Buckley tossing water at us. You could feel the energy in the room explode and Buckley took off on stage. At one point he was on the floor of the stage laying down serenading it like every legend before him has. Needless to say, the band had a lot of fun and the crowd partied the night away.
As the night came to an end they said thank you and walked up the stairs. Scott Ian being his humble self stayed behind to fist bump a few fans and threw out his signature Anthrax guitar pics that caused a couple hair pulls here and there.
The show was fun and full of energy. Way better than what I was expecting to see at a small venue. The band is set for sixteen more stops on this tour with a few festivals in between. They didn’t hesitate at all with this tour and went full out for fans of all ages. I can’t wait to see what they have planned for their future albums. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another ten years for one.
PHOTO CREDIT: All photos by Nikki Marie for ©ZRockR Magazine, All Rights Reserved.
I’ve been seeing her work all over lately. I need to get in contact with this photographer. Her work is stupendous and very unique. Does she freelance or is she strictly your photographer?
Hi Joey! This is Nikkie Marie! I freelance but it all depends on what kind of work you need done. If you would like to talk more please email me at [email protected]