DREAM COME TRUE

It’s a wonderful thing to have the opportunity to write about what we love. It’s a difficult thing to try to express these feelings in words, at least for me… I have no doubt that the beloved Gustavo Aguilera would do it much better. Ever since the news broke that The Damned were coming to Uruguay, the idea of ​​writing about it became my guiding light. And The Damned came, swept through, and left… but before, during and after, things happened.

I’d be lying if I said I remember what I was doing forty years ago when I first heard them… I do remember it was “Shadow of love” and then more songs from Phantasmagoria followed (an album that is undoubtedly by far the one I’ve listened to the most… not just by The Damned). A few days later, the trip to buy the cassette was inevitable, and once I had it, seeing the cover and the graphics definitely hit me. From there, calling the radio station and requesting more of their songs was a quick step, and several gems began to appear (“New rose”, “Smash it up”, “Curtain call”, “Neat neat neat”, etc.)… enough for me to swear eternal loyalty.

From Peñarol neighborhood to Ciudad Vieja by bus, it’s almost an hour’s journey which I made every day for many years to go to work, and most of the time, The Damned’s cassettes were what accompanied me on that round trip… moments of depression, of anger, of joy… they were always (and are) opportune moments to listen to them.

And the years went by… I got married, became a father, got divorced… and they’re still there, patiently waiting to play whenever I decided to. And the years went by…and suddenly, what I expected: “The Damned for the first time in Uruguay”… yes, right here, 10 minutes from my house.

The article about the interview with Brian James (I was so proud that this would be the last one) prompted me to contact the show’s producer and ask if they thought it was feasible to show them Brian’s message to the band. After a while, the response: “Yes, of course they should find out” … (Ufff… it won’t be long before they come???).

And the Damned day arrived… and an hour before the doors opened, Antonio Cruz and I were already waiting to get in. People kept arriving (among them Gallego Mondelo and Perro Umpiérrez, my colleagues at Rocker City Radio) until the doors finally opened and at the end of the frame the sign “THE DAMNED” could be seen. We stood two meters from the stage and as people arrived (many of whom we knew) we watched the performance of Cross and TV Smith (with whom we have already coordinated a future interview).

And the moment arrived… first Monty (Oximoron, the keyboardist), then Rat, Paul Gray, Capt, and finally the vampire Dave Vanian. The table was set… and the Damned swept us off our feet… without exaggeration, I’d say it was the best show I’ve ever seen. Their connection with the crowd was immediate and permanent. From the moment “Love song” started playing until the end of “Smash it up”, these guys took our breath away, and both they and the audience gave it their all; absolutely no one held anything back.

After the show, we huddled with Leo Peirano searching for a set list without success… and when we saw Mariano Asch (the producer who brought them to these lands), Leo called him (as if we knew him) and told him I was the one from the Brian James’ interview (Mariano knew about that, but obviously had no idea who I was). “Hold on a second”, he said, bringing me a Paul Gray pick as a gift and asking me to go to the gate where they would be leaving, and if there weren’t many people, he would let us in (forget it… we went with Leo and Antonio, but it was croweded). We watched them leave, and with them, my hopes of ever meeting them went down.

We walked home, fascinated by what we had experienced a little while earlier… and when I got there, I received a WhatsApp message from Mathias Barreiro (from the production company in Uruguay): “Gonzalo, sorry, but we just finished… Mariano said to come to the hotel tomorrow at 10 AM, where they’ll be staying and you’ll be able to see them”. I don’t think I need to tell you that I barely slept and woke up before my alarm went off.

I was there at the agreed-upon place and time… and one by one they appeared: Monty, then Rat Scabies, Dave Vanian, Paul Gray, and finally (I imagined) Captain Sensible. I finally had the chance to tell them one by one about the interview (I brought a copy of the article and the email exchange to each of them) and I will hardly forget Rat Scabies’ face when I showed him the messages (you can see them at the end of the interview), how surprised and excited he was (“So sad… so sad”, he repeated very quietly) and Dave Vanian telling me how incredible it was that the audience enjoyed them. Everyone, without exception thanked me for bringing them the note and promised to read it. “Enjoy the show and give my love to the guys” was the last message I received from Brian James… and so I did. (Mission accomplished, Brian).

And the Damned left… and I’m left with what we experienced at MMB, with the brief chats at the hotel, the photos, and the signed album… DREAM COME TRUE. And as I said at the beginning, things also happened after they left: Two days later, I received a message via Messenger: “Gonzalo, I’m Brian James’ publicist. I got your fantastic interview and wanted to thank you because these things help keep Brian’s memory alive”.

Gonzalo Pedraja