Riot Fest Presents The Damned

The Damned are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1976 by lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk band from the United Kingdom to release a single, "New Rose" (1976), release a studio album, Damned Damned Damned (1977) and tour the United States. Nine of the band's singles charted within the top 40 on the UK singles chart. The band briefly dissolved after Music for Pleasure (1977), the follow-up to their debut studio album, was critically dismissed. They quickly re-formed without Brian James and released Machine Gun Etiquette (1979). In the 1980s, they released four studio albums: The Black Album (1980), Strawberries (1982), Phantasmagoria (1985) and Anything (1986), which saw the band moving toward a gothic rock style. The latter two albums did not feature Sensible, who had left the band in 1984. In 1988, James and Sensible rejoined to play a series of reunion gigs, one of which was released the next year as the live album Final Damnation (1989). Their fast-driven punk rock has been cited for influencing and shaping the emergence of hardcore punk in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United Kingdom and the United States. The Damned again re-formed for a tour in 1991. In 1995, they released a new studio album, Not of This Earth, which was Scabies's last with the band until the release of their 2026 album, Not Like Everybody Else. This was followed by Grave Disorder (2001), So, Who's Paranoid? (2008) and Evil Spirits (2018), their first studio album in the Official Charts top-10 list, landing at No. 7. Darkadelic, was released in 2023 and also made it into the Official Charts top-10 list, landing at No. 9. Despite experiencing numerous lineup changes, the formation of Vanian, Sensible, keyboardist Monty Oxymoron, drummer Pinch and bassist Stu West had been together from 2004 until 2017, when West left the band and former bassist Paul Gray rejoined. In 2019, drummer Pinch left the band, and in February 2022 he was replaced by Will Taylor, who left in November 2023, when Scabies rejoined. In a 2026 interview with The Guardian, Scabies, Vanian and Sensible admitted "they will always be known as 'punk band the Damned,' despite their not being a punk band since 1978." Their 1980 'The Black Album' featured "prog-psych epic 'Curtain Call'" and "by the mid-'80s, they were major label gothic psychedelic hitmakers." As one of the first gothic rock bands, the Damned, featuring lead singer Vanian's baritone singing, dark lyrics and vampire-themed costume, were a major influence on the goth subculture. NOTE: For the visual kei band DAMNED, which is incorrectly merged to this page, see their redirected profile.

The Flamin' Groovies are an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965, originally co-led by Roy Loney and Cyril Jordan. After the Groovies released three albums, on Epic (Supersnazz) and Kama Sutra, Loney left the band in 1971. He was replaced as co-leader by Chris Wilson, and the band's emphasis shifted more toward British Invasion power pop.

Raw and raucous garage rockers the Courettes are an international phenomenon in more ways than one -- not only have they attracted a loyal following in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, their guitarist and singer is from Brazil while the drummer hails from Denmark. United by the universal language of rock & roll, the Courettes play no-frills garage punk with plenty of energy and a melodic sense that makes room for old-school punk, '60s pop, girl group sounds, surf music, and revved-up psychedelia. The duo sounded elemental and energetic on their 2015 debut Here Are the Courettes and were tighter and a bit more musically ambitious but still capable of shaking the house on 2018's We Are the Courettes. 2021's Back in Mono boasted more tough rock & roll captured in the group's own vintage recording facility. Based in Denmark, the dynamic duo behind the Courettes is lead singer and guitarist Flavia Couri, originally from Brazil, and drummer Martin Couri, a native Dane and Flavia's husband. The two met in Brazil in 2013, when his band played on a bill with hers during a tour of South America. They quickly hit it off musically, and in 2015 Flavia relocated to Denmark, where she and Martin formed the group. The duo went into the studio to lay down some songs, and while they had initially planned to add more musicians to the lineup, they were so happy with the way they sounded with just guitar and drums that they made their duo permanent. They struck a deal with the German label Sounds of Subterrania and quickly cut their debut album, 2015's Here Are the Courettes, a 20-minute blast of rock & roll initially released on 10" vinyl. In 2016, they traveled to England to record the single "Boom! Dynamite!" b/w "T-C-H-A-U" at Toe Rag Studios, an all-analog facility favored by Billy Childish, the Kaisers, and the White Stripes. 2017 saw the release of Alive from Tambourine Studios, a live session cut in a studio in Sweden, and in 2018 they took a bit more time and delivered the 12-song LP We Are the Courettes. Frequent gigging at clubs and festivals in Europe and the United Kingdom, as well as closer to home, helped to spread the buzz about the band, and also in 2018, they cut a single, "Voodoo Doll," that not only included a guest appearance from Brazilian horror icon José Mojica Marins (aka Coffin Joe), but was recorded using a boutique technology called Vinyl Video, that etched a music video on the flipside that can be played on a standard television with a special decoder. In 2020, the British Damaged Goods label, home to acknowledged influence Billy Childish, signed the Courettes, and they reissued Here Are the Courettes and We Are the Courettes on vinyl, as well as issuing a CD, Here We Are the Courettes, which collected both albums in full on one disc. The band's third album, Back in Mono, was issued by Damaged Goods in October 2021; it was produced by Søren Christensen at Starr Sound, the band's own recording studio lovingly assembled from vintage audio gear from the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. In 2023, the Courettes made their way to North America for their first U.S. tour, and to commemorate the event, Damaged Goods released Boom! Dynamite, a vinyl-only compilation featuring tracks from Here Are the Courettes, We Are the Courettes, and Back in Mono, as well as rare tunes and non-LP single sides. Biography by Mark Deming for ALLMUSIC