THE DAMNED THINGS

STUNTMAN MIKE

The opening band step out on the stage of the Garage and see…not a lot, there’s about 30 people here about half an hour after doors opened. Oh well, the show must go on. Unfortunately I don’t think the band told us their name once, so there’s not a lot I can tell you about them. A Biffy Clyro style 3-piece, with sharp riffs, echoing lyrics and bouncing band members, it seems to go down well with the small crowd of people that are here. Up next is the main support of the night, Stuntman Mike. Thankfully there are a few more clusters of punters arriving as they take to the stage. Mixing dance elements into rock with their heavily synth based intros, this rings of Innerpartysystem. It doesn’t quite get the crowd bouncing but it does work them up for the main act hitting the stage.

DATE:

VENUE:

Tuesday 7th June 2011

Garage in Glasgow, UK

Reviews by Siobhan Hogarty

STUNTMAN MIKE

THE DAMNED THINGS

The Damned Things are the super group of the moment, a mammoth hybrid of genres and styles, featuring members of bands: Fall Out Boy, Every Time I Die and Anthrax, weird… but it melds perfectly within their music. Debut release ‘Ironiclast’ is a stormer and it seems most of the people here know every single song already. Bursting into the title track gets all the arms in the room raised and even allows for some pints to fly through the air. Keith Buckley is every inch the frontman, everyone here is in the palm of his sweaty little hand. ‘Handbook For The Recently Deceased’ is a crowd pleaser for sure, as the voices rise up to the ceiling, the atmosphere tonight just continues to build and build. ‘Friday Night (Going Down In Flames)’ was made for nights like these, arms aloft as we scream the lyrics in unison, whilst Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano constantly move and swarm around the very busy stage, as they are also having to avoid the moving targets in the forms of: a very energetic Keith Buckley, an ever-bobbing Joe Trohman and a bass swinging Josh Newton. The groove that comes along with ‘A Great Reckoning’ should have a warning, everyone in the room is soon moving along with the rhythm. The real surprise tonight is Andy Hurley, his drumming is just incredible, a real shame that he doesn’t get to fully display his skills in his work with Fall Out Boy. ‘Black Heart’ and ‘Bad Blood’ sound so much better live than on record, and they sound very good on record. To finish this set, the ever-infectious anthem ‘We’ve Got A Situation Here’, ringing out through the venue as the crowd sways and bounces. Let’s just hope that this super group stick around for a while because they are definitely something special.